Eutopia
by NixiePlonks
Summary: Eutopia never believed in life after death. Or angels... until, hounded by the police for a murder she didn't commit, she finds herself falling into the arms of a angelically beautiful, strangely familiar man. Dark dreams, of a life far away, Eutopia discovers she has lived before - in a time when slavery was common place.
1. Chapter 1

' _Alexis_. You didn't come back for me.' The light, airy tone lifted petulantly above the noise of the teeming mass of bodies crammed in the public bar at the front of the tavern that spilled seamlessly out into the darkened street and merged with the passing foot-traffic. Alexis had little trouble catching the words and he turned immediately to meet Liviana's golden eyes, who easily stood almost a foot taller than most of the men who lounged or stood about sharing wine and roasted meat in the hot, bustling space just inside the shop-front. The laughter and bubbling hum of conversation gradually lulled around them as every eye of the curious was turned now to the two tall figures who faced each other from either side of the room, one golden and resplendent in a pale blue stola that shimmered with an ethereal gleam in the lamplight, overlaying an expensive-looking ivory silk tunic, the other looking strikingly poorer in comparison with his dirt-stained and torn tunic of once finely woven cloth, though both were breathtakingly beautiful. Liviana's hair spilled out in a long flaxen rope from a thick pearl band fixed to the crown of her head, the shining locks studded with tiny little flowers crafted from lapis lazuli as the braid hung heavily over her one shoulder that was laid bare by the fold of her gown. The opposite shoulder of her stola was secured with a silver and sapphire broach which most likely cost more than most of the men in the tavern could ever dream to earn in a year. Indeed most merrily-glazed eyes were drawn to it as the woman moved deftly around the stools at the open front of the tavern where the hungry could eat on the go, towards Alexis as he stood towards the back of the room surrounded by the tables at which the slightly more wealthier clientele were perched, watching and waiting as they consumed fish hauled fresh that morning from the boats nestled in the docks just a stone's throw away.

'I thought my letter explained everything quite clearly, _Liviana_ ,' he said, turning from her as she came to stand before him. The delicate tinkle of a laugh, like wind through a fragile crystal chime left the lips of Liviana as she took in the plate of food that Alexis carried in one hand and the plain brown jug of ale in the other.

'You have somewhat lowered yourself to be waiting on your slave, dear brother.' Her words were still soft, though her tone was feminine enough to drift easily above the coarser sound of the predominantly male conversation that remained hushed and expectant as everyone watched the two majestic creatures face off like peacocks in the midst of a courtship display. All eyes were drawn now to Alexis, some filled with mirth at the woman's words, others too glassy with the copious amounts of cheap wine and ale to be anything but gleeful at the tension of confrontation that suddenly swelled in the room. Alexis' fist clenched with fury around the handle of the jug he held and the rough pottery was in danger of being ground to dust beneath his grip, the clenching of his teeth given away by the taut muscle in his jaw. He closed his eyes for a moment, clearly trying to reign in his temper as his lips were pressed into a hard line.

'Why did you come here?' he asked his words terse and sharp.

'Speak with me outside,' Liviana commanded, haughtily, 'I can't bear to be in this filthy backstreet hovel for one moment longer.' She turned elegantly, swinging her long golden plait over her shoulder and letting it fall straight down her back as she stalked from the room with all eyes following her. The idea that Alexis would not follow her had never crossed her mind as she left the open-fronted tavern and stepped out into the street where the heavy, cloying scent of fresh and rotting fish was strangely less potent than it had been inside. Liviana stalked through the teeming mass of commoners without a backward glance; dock-workers, traders, sailors and travellers alike who did not have a home to go back to or slaves to cook for them, who littered the street outside, hustling for service or a table. Alexis, as every other man in the room did, watched her go with wary eyes. He placed the jug and plate of food down on the nearest and unoccupied table with every expectation of finding both empty on his return. He found Liviana around the corner of the tavern where the bakery next door left a gap of about three feet wide which was usually utilised by passers-by needing to relieve themselves, the fetid stench of piss and human waste caused Liviana to wrinkle her nose.

'How can you bear it here? This place stinks like the foul shit on a dead donkey!' She demanded, whirling around to face Alexis as he approached her.

'I do not need to justify myself to you, dear _sister_ ,' he spat, his eyes glinting dangerous and dark. 'I didn't expect to see you so soon; I would have thought you would still be lapping up each drop of attention spoon fed to you by Cato.'

'I came to my senses soon after you left, sweet, sweet _Jinn,'_ she breathed his true name as gently as a lovers caress, carefully stepping around the dank puddles in the dark street to press herself closer to his tall, hulking frame in the small space. Alexis moved back from her, whipping his dirty dalmatica away from her reaching fingers as he caught the faltering smile on her pretty lips.

'Are you sure you can bear to touch me, _Liviana_? Do I not smell too disgusting for you? I am surprised you can even look me in the eye after I have lowered myself to depths you cannot comprehend because of the shallowness that stilts the beat of your angelic heart.'

'We must maintain this charade, even now, when I am sure you have told her what we are?' she demanded, her eyes suddenly as hard and as cold as unworked gold.

'Yes. They are but names. Besides, I believe that yours suits the personality you have developed. Envious to the last.'

'Envious?!' Liviana spluttered in surprise, 'of her? Of that common, inconsequential slave of a mortal? I think you are deluded, Alexis, defender of all!' He laughed, shortly, crossing his arms across his chest as he leaned back slightly to let more of the light that crept between the buildings they stood between bathe her upturned face, widening the gap between them as much as he could in the tight space. 'Please,' Liviana stepped closer again, raising her hands palm upwards towards Alexis with fingers splayed to show she meant no harm as she moved with slow deliberation to rest them lightly on the taut muscle of his chest, golden eyes pleading as she peered up at him in the half-light. Liviana's lips, parted and trembling, brushed over Alexis' as she whispered. 'Please don't leave me, Jinn, we've been together so long, roaming the width and breadth of this strange place. I wouldn't cope here on my own without you, I need you.' As Alexis' arms remained impassively folded across his chest Liviana pressed this to her advantage, her warm lips lightly trailing along his tense jaw and up to his ear as she continued to whisper. 'You need me too… remember, all those nights, those long, empty nights we spent together looking up at the glorious stars instead of down on them; that bewilderment we felt in those first few days here as we helped each other understand these feelings and emotions that these humans feel. I couldn't have got through those dark moments without you to show me the light. I understand that now, that we are here to help each other. When I lost my way with Phoibe and Aisha you were there to show me the way and so now I am here to show you that this is not right. These feelings you have, they will pass.' Liviana slid her hands up to clasp either side of Alexis' face with long, elegant fingers as she pulled back enough to lift her wide eyes to search his. 'This girl is nothing but another human that you have been sent to guide, and so guide her you must without falling into this inescapable vortex of emotion that we seem to be drawn into. We are nothing like them, we cannot love their kind the way we can love our own. You must take her back to Rome at once; reunite her with her brother as you were supposed to do so that we may continue on our own journey. Together.'

'You are wrong.' Alexis' eyes were narrowed to harsh slits, his tone low but firm as he stared hard at Liviana and each word was enunciated through clenched teeth. 'I will not let any harm come to her. I cannot lead her to that fate; I love her more than I have ever loved anything or anyone. This is not a passing phase, Liviana, I have truly never felt this way before and I will do whatever it takes to protect her and it does _not_ involve the path she has been given. '

'Then I must do it for you,' said Liviana, taking a resigned step back and letting her fingers slip from his warm face. 'Do what must be done, or I _will_ do it for you.' Her eyes followed his hand as it moved to shift his dalmatica aside and a subtle bluish glow lit up the foul, damp space they stood in, emanating from the sword still sheathed at his hip.

'You will do no such thing!' he growled, dangerously. The still air seemed to shimmer and hum with an eerie vibration that settled just below the arc of one's hearing, thrumming on the threshold of the aural sense as a gentle blue light seemed to envelope them both. The effect on Liviana was instant. She rushed at Alexis, her gracefully solid frame flung at him in the tiny alleyway as she slid to her knees at his feet, her face full of angelic entreaty as she clutched at his ragged tunic, the filth on the floor totally forgotten as it clung to her delicate stola.

'No! We have a duty,' she implored almost apologetically, her voice a fearful gasp.

'And I have told you time enough that my duty now is to protect Eirene and I will do all that is in my power to do so. As will Alastor.' The sword seemed to glow brighter as Alexis mentioned it, causing it to pulse like a living thing at his side.

'You cannot meddle with these things, you should not!' Liviana had a fistful of Alexis' tunic in each of her hands, the desperation in her voice twisting her beautiful features. 'If Uriel finds out about this… Michael,' she gasped, wide eyed. 'If Michael hears...' Her words petered out faintly as she appeared to lose the ability to speak at the thought.

Alexis crouched down so that he was level with the figure kneeling in the stench of human waste at his feet; his swift movement wrenching the fabric from Liviana's fingers as the tip of his nose almost touched hers. Liviana could see that his eyes were as black as his closely cropped hair, as fathomlessly deep as the blackest of nights.

'Then so be it,' he growled. The hum and blaze of light that had steadily grown around them with Alexis' fury, surrounding them in an azure cloud of vibration, began to die down. From having illuminated every crack in each coarse brick in the walls that surrounded them it seemed to settle to a dim glow that fluttered out like a flame that had been snuffed. He straightened up, brushing his hands over the front of his tunic as though wiping away Liviana's touch, before he reached down to grasp her beneath each elbow and pulled her up to her feet. 'Let them know if you must but do not expect such threats to change my mind. Eirene is now my entire reason for being, the whole purpose of my existence. Nothing can change that, not even Michael's scorn.'

The fight seemed to have left Liviana, her perfectly sculpted shoulders drooped, as did the pretty corners of her lips as she scoffed at him, incomprehension clear in eyes that were bright with tears.

'Scorn? If Michael hears of this I seriously doubt there will be any room for scorn amidst his anger at such a betrayal. We were tasked with a great thing, the first two Watchers of the House of QuilYa to be allowed to guide upon the Earth. Do you think that I will be allowed to remain here to continue? Michael will lose faith in me too if you deviate in such a way. You will be cast out and I will be called back to Hiera. I don't want to go back, Alexis, I like it here,' she pouted childishly.

'Then stay here. I will be moving on with Eirene tomorrow, I will take her as far away from Rome as I can get her.'

'You cannot run with her forever.'

'I will fly if I have to.'

Liviana gasped, her breath drawn in a choking rasp. 'You have revealed your wings?'

'Yes.' Sadness filled Liviana's eyes, causing them to soften to a honey coloured topaz in the gloom. He really was serious about this slave-girl. Never before had he revealed his true identity to any of the girls he had strung along on their journey so far, and there had been a few. More than a few. She nodded and her tone was surprisingly gentle when she next spoke.

'You will hurt her beyond reason when she discovers what you know of her brother.' She said.

'I will tell her everything when we are safely away and she will understand.'

'But you cannot stop what must come to pass. Whatever will be will be, it is inventible,' she insisted.

'How will I know for sure if I do not try?' Alexis countered and the silence that fell between them was poignant. After a moment Alexis sighed, heavily as he watched Liviana gather herself up, golden head held high and still a vision resplendent in her pale blue silk despite the filth that now stained most of the expensive and utterly impractical fabric. She walked to the entrance of the alleyway, where the raucous evening sounds of the street began to reach her ears again as though a glass dome had suddenly been lifted from the entire scene beyond.

'I only hope you can find someone to love in the same way that I love Eirene. You will understand the way I feel then, why I must do what I am doing.' Alexis said to the retreating figure, making her pause and look back at him.

'I already have.' With one last, lingering look, Liviana was gone with a gleaming swish of her long braid and a flutter of pale silk, leaving Jinn standing alone in the alleyway as Eirene closed the window shutters to the room they had hired for the night, shutting out all that had passed between the two figures in the alleyway below with clammy palms and a racing heart.


	2. Chapter 2

_Lust is a sin._

'Isn't everything?'

 _Your duty isn't._ A sardonic tone.

'This is my duty.' Spoken through gritted teeth.

 _So you think. Everyone has a path to follow._

'Some just can't read the map, right?'

A gentle chuckle echoed in reply.

It was the silence that finally woke her, creeping into her consciousness as she slept. Eutopia's place was never silent, what with the constant throb of drum'n'bass that vibrated through the walls day and night from the pot-head that lived next door… and the lack of noise was disturbingly unfamiliar, though admittedly a welcome relief for the pounding in her skull. Her whole mouth ached with a pain that spread with reaching fingers along the right side of her face. She probed her flesh, hesitant and gentle as she explored the damage. Her closed eyes squinted with pain and she soon stopped poking. She wasn't sure, but nothing in her face seemed to be broken. At least she still had all her teeth, though she ran her tongue over them slowly, more than once, just to make sure.

Struggling through the layers of sleep that still surrounded her Eutopia opened her eyes a crack, letting a dozy golden light stream into her vision. _Oh, God._ She knew instantly that this wasn't her tiny, comfortingly messy bedroom. Eutopia raised a hand to her head, pressing fingers hard against the undamaged side of her face as though willing some kind of memory to return from the night before. Cold blue eyes, sharp and as icy as a scuba dive in the North Pole, her own eyes snapped open. Flickers, images, fluttered through her fuzzy brain. A car. Mr Muscle... pain. She winced.

 _God. Oh, God._

Eutopia swung her legs down from the brown leather couch she found herself lying on and instantly wished she hadn't bothered. A wave of nausea, fast and thick, crashed up to meet her and set her head swirling and thumping all at the same time. Wild tangles of her almost black hair, wavy from the rain and tousled from sleep tumbled around her in a dark cloud settling halfway down her back. She pressed the heels of both palms to her eyes and hoped the pressure might ease the ache and the sickness she felt in the pit of her stomach. A few moments of deep breathing and very little motion left her free to lift her head from her hands and peer cautiously about. She could tell from the rich quality of the light peeping from between the closed slats of a sleek venetian blind that it was way into the afternoon. But where the hell was she?

With effort she eased herself up from the couch, her bare feet silent on the polished, warm oak floorboards that wouldn't have been out of place in a stately country home though the room she found herself in was by no means grand in size. As she stood a quilted silk throw that had been draped over her pooled into a vanilla-cream puddle, slipping off her damp jeans to lie discarded on the floor. Eutopia took a step forward and her shins bumped against a long, low coffee table made from a rich coloured wood and the jolt made her glance down. Her breasts were almost bare. The scooped neck of her blood-spattered t-shirt had been ripped jaggedly; the fabric across her chest dangled uselessly at either side and exposed the shredded lace of her black bra. Eutopia pulled the tattered edges together and tugged at the stretchy material modestly, one hand resting on her breasts to hold the gathered fabric and prevent it from slipping down again. She whirled at a noise behind her and noticed for the first time the doorway set a few feet back from the sofa.

A large figure stood there, almost silhouetted and lounging against the doorjamb with huge arms folded across a barrel of a chest. The man's strong features were cast into shadow because of the light streaming in behind him but what she could see caused the girl's heart to skip a beat and pound suddenly again in her throat. His black hair fell messily about his ears, brushing his temples and cheekbones to frame a face that even an Angel couldn't have carved better. A slow blush crept into her cheeks as she thought of the cliché, though it couldn't have been truer. His feline like eyes, dark and hard met her gawking gaze with a cold and level stare. The iciness of his demeanour caused her to draw her ragged clothes tighter around herself.

He pointedly lowered his eyes and she followed his gaze back to the low table where a man's cotton shirt, soft, feathery white against the glossy wood, lay neatly folded. Eutopia picked it up and shook it out before slipping it on and fastened the buttons with fumbling fingers after folding the cuffs back twice to free her hands. It fell loosely over her small frame, swamping her to hang part-way down her thighs. The man watched silently. He said nothing as she gathered her wild hair in her fist and twirled it deftly into a knot at the base of her neck, twisting the ends back on themselves to secure it for lack of a bobby-pin. Her eyes never left his the whole time and he barely blinked as he held her trembling, unsure gaze. Finally, he pushed himself away from the door frame with one booted foot and turned away from her, heading back into the room he had appeared from and breaking the eerie spell of silence.

'Hey,' she called softly after him, annoyed that he would just leave her stood there feeling like a lost child in a supermarket that no one wants to approach for fear of being accused of attempted kidnap. Kidnap, now there was a thought. The image of an idling car flickered across her mind, causing her to shudder. The man didn't reappear.

She followed him through into the other room and found herself in what was clearly a kitchen. Sunlight streamed soft and warm through the window above the sink, gleaming off the brushed steel and clean white lines of the room. There wasn't a thing out of place; everything seemed utilitarian, functional and modern. But mostly just expensive, from the small coffee machine tucked into one corner to the chrome kettle sitting in another. Confusion swirled in her head which only seemed to make the ache in her brain that much more nauseating.

He was seated on a tall bistro stool with one arm leaning against the shiny granite of the breakfast bar that neatly divided the room in two, long elegant fingers wrapped around a small espresso cup as nonchalant as though finding half naked girls on his sofa every morning was commonplace. _With a face like that,_ Eutopia thought, _it probably is_. On the furthest side of the room a little glass-topped table sat with just two chairs tucked neatly beneath and a single Calla lily embraced by a slim granite vase in the middle. Eutopia wondered at the slight feminine touch. Where was his girlfriend, or did he live alone? She stood hesitant and awkward in the doorway, disturbed by the thought that her first concern was the whereabouts of the girlfriend she was sure he should have, rather than how or why she ended up in his living room as her hand lifted to let fingers drift lightly over the crusted blood at the corner of her mouth.

'I don't have any money. Well, not much,' Eutopia blurted. She plucked at the buttons on the shirt she now wore, wondering how she should feel about this strangely beautiful man. Each pulsation of her achy head was screaming at her to get out, to run. But the nervous skipping beat of her heart was telling her that this man was different, somehow unconnected to the indistinct events of the night before. Besides, Eutopia felt a peculiar sense of déjà vu as she looked at him. Had they met before? Surely she would remember such a breath-taking man, even if she had only passed him in the street… In the brighter sunlight of the kitchen she could now see that the shadows had not been casting illusions. He truly was striking. There was a delicate and fragile grace in the strength of his features that Eutopia had never seen outside of airbrushed underwear campaigns. The sudden thought of him in his underwear caused her to blush brightly again.

'I know,' the man replied with cool eyes that seemed almost to glow a deep indigo colour. Even his voice was captivating. Deep and resonating.

'Oh,' said Eutopia, wondering how he knew and then lowering her eyes self-consciously at the thought that perhaps he had been the one to cover her sleeping form with the throw on the couch, having no doubt rifled her pockets in the process. 'Well, I don't have any family who could give you any either.'

'Oh?'

'Yes. My mother died years ago and I never knew my father.' She rambled on feeling flustered, trying to explain herself. 'What I mean is, I guess, if you're planning to like, hold me to ransom or something it won't work, so you may as well just let me go now.' She folded her arms across her chest, her chin jutting out in what she hoped was a firm and authoritative gesture but in actual fact just made her appear even more childlike in his oversized shirt.

'Ah,' the man said, trying to keep the smile from his face as he stood. 'You think I've kidnapped you?'

'You haven't?' Eutopia flinched in embarrassment at the obvious disappointment she could hear in her own voice, feeling extremely stupid. He sighed though his hard expression never changed as he stood with a fluid elegance that a heavily muscled man like him had no right to possess, crossing the room in a few languid strides. As he reached up to lift a little packet down from a cupboard Eutopia noted his almost inhuman height. She nibbled her split lower lip gingerly; a nervous habit since childhood that she had never managed to lose, as her eyes darted over his huge form that seemed to fill the small room. She tracked a path back through the doorway as though she was judging the likelihood of making it there before he could stop her.

'You're free to leave,' he said, closing the gap between them without much effort as he held out a glass of water to Eutopia. He lifted the packet so that she could see the label on the painkillers and she held out her hand to let him pop two sugar-coated pills into her outstretched palm as she recognised the shiny silver box. Eutopia swallowed them without the need of the water. She took a sip anyway, eyeing him from over the rim of the glass, before moving further into the room and placing it gently on the glass table, noting the change of warm wood to cool stone beneath her bare feet. She wondered silently where her shoes were. The man turned to watch her, giving her the sense of a statute-still predator following its prey effortlessly.

'What's your name?' she asked, turning to face him as he lounged against the breakfast bar again.

'Jinn.'

'Like the drink?'

'No.'

'Like the genie?' she smiled slightly, despite his emotionless expression.

'Sort of.'

'So you'll grant me three wishes?' Eutopia asked hopefully, amazed at how his handsomeness soothed her uneasiness at the whole situation for the moment and desperate to pierce the tension she felt crackling around them. Judging a book by its cover, so to speak, was dangerous. Good looks didn't always equate a good personality. Experience had certainly taught her that so far. A wry smile touched Jinn's lips.

'One. I'll give you one wish.'

Eutopia gave a little shake of her head, cascading loose tendrils of her dark hair around her.

'I doubt you could make my wish come true...I'm Eutopia.'

Jinn nodded once and straightened up, leaving the room. Eutopia gave a tut and followed him once more, wondering if he'd ever been taught the rules of polite conversation.

Standing in the doorway for a moment she could appraise the lounge. Jinn had tilted the slats on the blinds now that hung at two sash windows that stretched from the ceiling to the floor on the right hand wall, letting the afternoon sun spill more freely into the room. A thick cream coloured rug, too big to be sheepskin but just as soft and shaggy looking, lay in the centre with the low table set on top. A fairly simple fireplace was on the far wall, directly opposite the kitchen where Eutopia still stood. The mantle was carved from a dark cherry-coloured wood and had the same opulent gloss of the floorboards. A thin inlay of dark green marble, shot through with streaks of gold, lined the inside of the fireplace which was filled by a sleek black screen that Eutopia believed would flicker like a real fire once it was turned on. A long silver sword, luminous against the pale cream of the wall behind, rested on a silver stand displayed proudly on top of the mantle. Two large leather brown sofas were arranged in an L-shape in the centre of the room but there was still enough room for at least three people to walk side by side around them. Jinn was sat on the end of the sofa facing the fireplace, staring at the big plasma television that was mounted in the top right hand corner of the lounge. A broad bookcase with each shelf, neat and ordered, crammed with various titles, none of which Eutopia could read, occupied most of the back wall by the kitchen door.

She came to stand beside Jinn and retrieved the silk throw from the floor, discovering her trainers beneath it with the socks tucked neatly inside each shoe. She carefully folded the quilt and placed it on the seat next to Jinn. He didn't even look up from the news report he was watching, the volume low, which involved the current situation of the country's deficit as it almost always did lately, not that she understood any of it.

'Your bag is by the front door,' he said, motioning with a hand to the left of the fireplace.

'Oh.' Eutopia picked up her slightly damp socks and slipped them on, using the back of the sofa for support as she balanced first on one leg and then the other. Jinn glanced over his shoulder at her, hearing the muffled shuffle of her foot on the slippery floor as she fought to ram her foot into the soggy material.

'There's plenty of hot water if you want a shower. Food in the fridge if you're hungry. I need to go out.' Jinn stood, unfurling his large frame from the deep cushions of the sofa. 'Feel free to leave whenever, just pull the door closed behind you. And please,' he fixed her wide eyes with a glacial gaze, 'don't touch anything.'

'As if I would,' she retorted, offended by the fact Jinn thought she was the type of girl who would root through his stuff. There wasn't much to look through anyway. The two rooms Eutopia had seen so far were empty of anything of interest to her. The walls, ivory in colour, were devoid of any photographs or pictures that might allude to his personal life or experiences. Obviously he was unafraid of her running off with any items of his furniture, as luxurious and expensive everything seemed to be, it was all far too bulky for her to try and move. Though the small coffee machine, which looked like it wouldn't be able to make anything larger than a single espresso, might have fit in her backpack if she shoved it hard enough.

'You never can tell with some people,' Jinn said, unabashed by her insulted tone. He stretched a little, the black long sleeved t-shirt he wore stretched tight for a moment across his wide chest to define every muscle. Jinn checked the pocket of his jeans for his key as he walked to the door.

'Hey... Jinn?' Eutopia called with hesitation, just as his bulky silhouette was disappearing. The man turned back, one eye brow raised in a silent question. 'Thanks,' she said. Jinn gave a slight nod of his head and ducked out of the door, pulling it closed behind him with a soft click. Clearly, he was the strong, silent type.

It didn't take Eutopia long to locate the shower. Jinn's flat, obviously at the top of some building Eutopia gathered from the view point she had of the street below out of the lounge window, only had three rooms. There was the kitchen, the lounge and his bedroom which contained an en-suite shower and toilet. Jinn's bedroom was as simple and as sumptuous as the rest of the little flat. It was roughly about the same size as the lounge with most of the space taken up by an ornate four poster bed, the pile of bedding, stretched out as smooth as though it had never been slept in, gleamed with copper and bronze tones. A wide chest of draws, free of clutter and a tall wardrobe were the only other items furnishing the room, yet it had a warmth to it that made her linger as she made her way to the equally bare bathroom. Again Eutopia failed to see anything to give her a clue about this guy, his toiletries and essentials no doubt tucked away behind the mirrored glass of the cabinet hanging on the wall above the wash basin.

Eutopia had dug out her own shampoo and other luxuries and had spent a good long while in the shower, letting the hot, hard spray pound the aching from her head and her weary muscles as the painkillers began to kick in. Her life hadn't been this confusing or complicated for a long time and she didn't relish the idea of it becoming so now, not when she was so close to getting what she had been searching for. She appraised herself in the steamy mirror afterwards, convincing herself that the livid bruise on her cheek actually wasn't that awful. Her lower lip didn't look as swollen as it felt and the split wasn't as bad as she first thought when it had been covered in her dried blood. She had towel dried her hair and dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a dark blue t-shirt from her bag that fitted her better than his shirt which she folded and lay on his bed. Having checked the contents of Jinn's fridge she decided that nothing really appealed to her, almost all of the food was still sealed in its packaging as though Jinn had only just been shopping. She decided she felt too guilty about opening anything and so settled herself back on the sofa, legs curled beneath her and her old and battered Nokia glued to her ear.

'What do you mean you were 'unable to hold my booking'?' she demanded in disbelief, 'I paid in full for that room last Friday by credit card.'

'I appreciate that, Miss Midnite and I cannot apologise enough for the situation,' said the receptionist, who's tone actually suggested she couldn't care less, 'But you didn't book in by the appointed check in time and as company policy dictates, which you can check in your terms and conditions on the booking form, that leaves us eligible to re-sell the room and charge you a cancellation fee of 10%.'

'Well, do you have any other rooms available for today?' Eutopia asked desperately, tugging her fingers through her slowly drying hair, wincing as she snagged a knot and silently cursing the whereabouts of her hairbrush.

'Uh...' there was a harsh clacking of keys as the receptionist checked the computer system. 'I'm afraid not, Madam. We don't have anything free until after the 15th.'

'But that's days away, I need somewhere to stay now!'

'I am sorry, but there really is nothing else I can do for you. Would you like the number of our sister hotel Madam? It's on the other side of London, but they may have a room free. ...Madam?'

Eutopia didn't hear. She was staring intently at the TV that she had left on the 24 hour news channel Jinn had been watching, since she couldn't find the remote and she wasn't tall enough to turn it over manually.

'... bodies of two young men have been found in an alleyway this morning,' the heavily made-up brunette news-reader was announcing in a sultry voice, her right eyebrow hitched up into her thick fringe as she eyed the camera in a suggestive manner that didn't sit well with the nature of the piece she was reporting on. The image faded to the scene of a narrow alleyway Eutopia all but remembered, grey and dingy despite the warm sunshine that had chased away the rain of the night before. Crime scene investigators were busily moving about a small white tent that had been erected between the two buildings forming the cut through and blue and white police tape crisscrossed the area. A few uniformed police officers stood gravely, their presence keeping back the few gory onlookers who were hoping to catch a glimpse of someone else's misfortune.

'...Are you still there? Madam?'

'The bodies were discovered by pub-goers in the early hours of today in Short Street, just feet away from the Three Feathers Inn near Covent Garden.' Eutopia leant forward, feet slipping to the floor as her dark eyes widened in horror. The picture had changed to two photographs, side by side, of the unfortunate victims before whatever sticky end it was they had met. The phone slipped from Eutopia's suddenly sweaty palm, which didn't matter much since the receptionist had already hung up. The news-reader continued, 'Police have confirmed that the bodies are those of twenty four year old Ashley Jones and twenty nine year old David 'Davey' Roberts, both from East London. Though a police spokesman failed to comment on the nature of these deaths, he was able to confirm that the police are treating the circumstances as 'suspicious' and a murder investigation has been launched. Police are also appealing for a young woman, whom they have reason to believe may be a witness to the incident, to come forward for questioning.'

Eutopia's heart missed several beats and her breath caught in her throat as another image appeared on the screen. This time it was her own face. The subtle features were distorted by sketchy lines but there was no mistaking the wide dark eyes; though they were spaced a little too far out to be a perfect match to hers. The gentle slope of her nose was a little too long and the bow of her pretty lips had been distorted to a plumpness that was almost obscene. The e-fit artist had sketched her dark hair pulled right the way back from her face, giving her a high forehead that all in all offered a cruel and haughty hardness of expression. Eutopia stood as the woman spoke over the sketched image of her face, 'The young woman is thought to be of white-Caucasian appearance, between nineteen and twenty-two years of age with dark brown to black hair, of slim build and between five foot two , to five foot four inches in height. If anyone has any information with regards to this case, please call Crimestoppers on the number below.' She paused for a moment, letting the bright studio lights sparkle in her blue eyes as her glossy red lips turned up lightly at the corners. 'Now, in other news...'

Eutopia never heard what the other news was; the sharp ringing was too loud in her ears. Her breath came harsh, rasping in and out of her lungs. Ash, Davey. Their faces, one pale and blonde, plump and pierced with dimples, the other more swarthy and dark burned brightly in her memory now as more and more details from last night trickled into her fuzzy mind. She saw each blow of Ash's hand, felt the sting of it falling against her skin. Her lip throbbed and a strangled cry escaped her. Her face on the news... The alleyway, the car, Ash's sour breath on her bare skin, his hands groping at her soft, vulnerable flesh. The memories came swift and fast, flooding the dam her terror and disgust had built. But how had it ended? Had she killed the two men? If so, how and why had she ended up here? Was Jinn involved too, is that why she felt such a strange pull to this man she was sure she had never met before? Too many questions and nowhere near enough answers. Running both hands through her hair she growled in frustration as she tried to think, replaying what she could remember in snippets in her head. Eutopia began to pace the room and came to a stop in front of the hearth. The perfectly polished silver of the sword reflected her frightened face, the width of the blade capturing her bewildered eyes. Eutopia stretched a finger out to absently trace the mirror image as she struggled to collect her thoughts.

A gentle hum suddenly filled the room, the hovering note growing insistent. Eutopia glanced up at the television for a moment, expecting it to be coming from there but a gentle blue glow began to pulsate in her peripheral vision and caused her to look back at the sword. Without realising it, her hand had moved along the blade to curl at the twisted metal of the hilt. She cried out in surprise and fear as her fingers gripped it tight and refused to let go, despite her best efforts to relax them. The humming echoed around the room, louder and louder with each pulse of brighter, icy colour that now swirled around her like a blue fog. The metal of the sword began to burn with heat in her palm as the prickling of electrical energy sparked across her skin, dancing from her curled fingertips and along every inch of her tremulous frame. Eutopia's eyes glazed, unseeing, as ghostly voices whispered softly to her. For the second time in the space of two days she felt herself losing consciousness and the utter lack of control she felt at being pulled away from the waking world left her terrified as she crumpled to the ground, pulling the heavy sword from the mantel as she went.


	3. Chapter 3

_Mere observation costs nothing._

'It costs everything,'

 _But it doesn't have to._ The stoic voice, unwavering.

'I feel I have no choice.'

 _Which is just the problem. You feel too much._

'I could make a difference. I will make a difference,' came the rigid response.

 _To everyone?_

The fog lifted from Eutopia's eyes fading to nothing as though it had never been. But she wasn't Eutopia, she could feel that. Her name was Eirene. She knew that because she remembered her mother, her soft sweet mother with her bright, dancing eyes, as she chuckled, 'Peace! I named you for Peace!' as Eirene tore ferociously after her brother Germanus because he had teased her mercilessly all day. Where was Germanus now? She didn't know. All she could be sure of at that moment was the passion beating in her heart and in her veins. Her Master, the frail and bent old scholar had only been laid to rest that day, only hours before she had found herself sold at auction to the highest bidder. Perhaps if he hadn't have lived alone, if he'd had a family, Eirene and Germanus may have been able to stay together. But Germanus was a big, strapping lad of twenty five now and there were many fields that needed sowing and farms that needed tending. Eirene knew she was lucky to have been sold at all, since the light and fair _Circassia_ girls had become the fashion. With her long dark hair and matching eyes, at twenty Eirene still possessed a childlike beauty, graced by her mother's good blood and evidently that had appealed to the man she now stood before.

The villa was richer by far, and larger, than her previous home. Everywhere Eirene looked her eye came across a brightly coloured mosaic or an intricate painting and the musical tinkle of the water spouting from the bronze dolphin fountain was tantalizing as she stood in the atrium.

'Alexis,' came the equally musical voice, causing the elegant man to glance behind him. A woman as tall and as statuesque as he was came sweeping out from the room to their left. 'I thought I heard your voice! Welcome home, brother.' The woman kissed the man lightly on his cheek without having to stretch. Eirene could not tear her eyes away from the two of them. She had never seen a woman as beautiful as the one that towered before her. Blonde hair so fair it gleamed like gold was artistically twisted and pinned up, dripping with delicate chains of semi-precious stones that glimmered with each movement. Her white _stola_ over-garment and the belted tunica beneath were of finely woven silk, coloured the dusky pink of a stormy sunset and richly embroidered with gold thread. In stark contrast to the woman the man, Alexis, was darker by far and the _dalmatica_ he wore over his white tunic was a bold red colour. His cloak, fastened at his right shoulder by a gleaming ruby pin, was plain ivory and yet he was just as opulent in appearance as the beautiful woman.

'Liviana,' Alexis replied, smiling at the warm greeting.

'Oh.' Liviana intoned as she finally noticed Eirene standing with them, as still as the spouting dolphin behind her. The warmth from Liviana's light eyes evaporated as she caught sight of the simple silver circlet at the girl's throat. 'Another one, Alexis? Honestly, our household is not big enough to warrant a third slave.' Eirene shifted uncomfortably as the two of them looked at her again.

'You know my intentions, Liviana. I have made no secret of them.' Alexis replied, patiently as he turned to his sister.

'She is pagan?'

Alexis nodded. 'It is against the law now to sell a Christian.' The honest, open expression on his smoothly chiselled face caused Liviana to smile again, indulgently.

'Fine. But you could at least have dressed her first.' The woman turned from both of them to stalk the length of the atrium towards a squared doorway at the far end. Eirene, having been startled back to her senses at the mention of her nakedness, blushed deeply as Alexis turned to her. Eirene thought it strange how his blue eyes put her so at ease.

'Go,' he said gently, motioning towards his sister. 'Go with your Mistress. She will find you something to wear.'

'Yes, _Dominus_.' Eirene bowed her glossy head slightly, lowering her eyes for fear he would see the sudden fervour burning there, and followed quickly after the swirling, retreating figure of Liviana.

The hard, uncompromising gaze of Aisha was something Eirene had been unprepared for. The girl had never lived with other slaves before, save for her brother, and she didn't think it was something she could grow used to if the unfriendliness of the other girl was what she would have to put up with. Liviana had flung a white unadorned tunica at her, waiting a moment for Eirene to dress herself, before she had shown her into the kitchen where a tall girl with supple ebony skin, also dressed in a plain white tunic that hinted at the softly rounded figure beneath, was arranging fresh fruit on a platter.

'A little helper for you, Aisha.' Liviana had said before she turned and left without a further word and now the two girls found themselves eyeing each other up. Eirene had come to stand beside Aisha, who had turned back to the task in hand.

'Is there anything I can do?' she asked, as politely as she could.

'No,' snarled Aisha. 'Phoibe and I can manage fine.'

'Who?' Eirene asked, gazing around the otherwise empty kitchen.

'Phoibe. She's finishing setting the table. You can help by just keeping out of the way. We don't need more help.'

'Oh.' Eirene stood back and gazed around the room instead. It was a simple kitchen, spacious and cool compared to the cramped and cluttered one she was used to. Her previous Master had been an advocate for new inventions and had ceaselessly bombarded Eirene with many new gadgets to aid her with her cooking and cleaning tasks, most of which he had concocted himself. Unfortunately none of them ever worked, but Eirene would keep them close to hand to please the old man. Her heart ached suddenly as the enormity of what she had lost hit her.

'Don't you go mistaking the kindness of our Master and Mistress for laziness. They know how to keep their slaves in order and so do I. Now get those scrawny legs moving.' A fleshy finger was waggled in her face as a plump and matronly woman with silvering hair bore down on her. Phoibe, Eirene guessed. 'If there are to be three slaves, then the work will be split three ways now, understand? I won't tolerate laziness in my kitchen. Be off with you both, off.' The fine silver platter Aisha had been arranging was whisked out of the girl's hands and shoved into Eirene's. Phoibe loaded Aisha down with a tray of fresh bread and a tall silver jug of wine before she ushered both the girls out of the kitchen and set to work in cleaning up, a whirlwind of motion.

Aisha, towering a head taller than Eirene though the difference was made up mostly by the black girl's turban, led the way along the smooth marble of the corridor and said nothing.

Alexis and Liviana both reclined on separate couches, opposite one another around the low table already spread with food. There was far too much for either one to have eaten, but Aisha silently added the platter of bread and wine to the spread before moving away from the table and kneeling in the shadows cast by the flickering candles illuminating the room. Night had fallen in the central courtyard outside, but the full moon was bright. Eirene followed Aisha's example, placing the fruit on the heavily laden table and then kneeling silently beside her at the edge of the room, waiting to be needed. It wasn't new to her, this waiting at dinner, but it seemed to be a much more formal and grand affair than Eirene was used to. Previously her Master had eaten in his study, often whilst he had been in the midst of teaching Germanus to read and Eirene had pretended not to listen. Master Horace had point blank refused to teach Eirene to read and had laughed kindly when she had begged him. 'You're more than a handful for an old man like me already. I shan't go making my life difficult by educating you.' But he knew Eirene listened and learned. He had seen her mouthing the words silently, eyes on the books spread out before the two men as she poured him wine. Those times seemed so far away now, even though it could only have been not ten days ago that Horace had made Germanus repeat a word over and over again, much to the boy's impatience because he understood it, though Eirene had not.

Aisha jabbed her long black fingers into Eirene's ribs, sharply, jolting her from her recollection. Liviana, pale and stunning as she lay on the plush cushions of the couch was holding a gleaming silver cup aloft. Eirene returned to the table, kneeling to lift the heavy jug of wine. She poured a thick stream of the dark red liquid into the cup and thought she caught sight of Aisha shuddering ever so slightly in the shadows. But her attention was caught by the conversation between the Master and Mistress that had barely paused with the entrance of the slaves.

'You said Alexis; you said we would be moving on. That was the idea, the very reason we rented this place. I hate the transience of this existence more than you do, but there isn't much more we can learn from Rome! You must have collected every scroll ever written, though I doubt you've even bothered to read most of them. Why are we still here? We should be packed up and on our way tomorrow.' Eirene stood when Liviana's goblet was full and silently ghosted around the table to fill the one that Alexis now lifted. She caught the smile on his lips as he waited for Liviana to finish her petulant tirade.

'Be still, sister!' he chuckled softly, 'I'm not proposing that we set down roots. All I ask you for is just a few more months. Is that too much to ask? I promise it won't be longer than that. There are still a few things I would like to learn about Rome before we move on. And move on we will. But not yet. ' Liviana caught the lingering glance Alexis bestowed upon the small figure of Eirene as she returned to kneel in the shadows with Aisha and her gaze hardened as she looked briefly at the girl.

'You have nothing more to learn about Rome,' she suddenly spat at Alexis, though the anger in her tone did not distort her beautiful features. 'It is your 'duty' that keeps you here. And that is not your duty to me, nor our Father. I give you one more month, Alexis. Just one. Then I am going. And you are coming. And everything,' she swirled an elegant hand in the air, encompassing the entire room in a grand gesture that Eirene took to include the whole villa, 'everything else is not. It will all stay here. It is about time we followed the path we came to follow.' And with that, the imposing woman, not at all ruffled by her outburst, stood up and swept from the room with such furiousness of motion all the candles in the room were extinguished, leaving the remaining occupants in darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

_I often wonder whether we left you there too long..._

'It wasn't your fault. It was my destiny.'

 _You never had a destiny. You had a duty._ Sighed with soft sadness.

'Everything happens for a reason. Your own words, I believe?'

 _What a cliché._

'This is my reason now. I can see that it always was.'

 _Then you must find a map._ A blessing. Almost.

 _'_ _Noli me tangere, noli me tangere!'_ Eutopia mumbled, frowning as she tossed uncomfortably on the sofa. A light, warm touch on her forehead made her eyes snap open and she gasped at finding Jinn's face just inches from her own. His feline-like eyes were narrowed slightly and his striking face was creased with concern.

'Are you alright?' he asked gently, pulling his hand away as Eutopia sat up, shoving the hair from her eyes with one hand.

'Yes, I think so... I don't know what happened. I just feel so tired. I haven't eaten in a while, maybe it's that.' She gave him a small smile, feeling confused at his worry. As quickly as she had noticed it, the look hardened and his indigo eyes darkened. He sat back on the floor, having been crouched in front of her.

'I told you not to touch anything.' Jinn's words were terse.

'I didn't, I... oh.' Eutopia remembered and glanced up at the mantle where the gleaming silver sword rested once more, replaced on its stand. She frowned again. 'You really shouldn't keep faulty electrical items on display. I might sue you next time.' She rubbed her palms together with a little shiver, remembering the blue sparking light, the heat on her hand. 'That thing is dangerous. What is it anyway? Some sort of novelty lamp? If I were you, I'd take it back. It must be wired up wrong or something.'

'Alastor,' Jinn muttered, his eyes catching and holding Eutopia's own to watch a glimmer of emotion, a flicker of something as the girl tilted her head at the strange word. 'It isn't a lamp, and it isn't a toy. You shouldn't have touched it. It isn't polite to go around touching other people's things. Are you hurt?'

'Umm... no. I don't think so.' Jinn took both of Eutopia's hands in his, looking intently at her for a moment before he tore his eyes from her face and examined her palms to find them unharmed. Eutopia visibly flinched at his touch, but didn't pull away.

'I don't think you'll be suing anyone just at the moment, anyway,' he said quietly, jerking his head at the television that was still on behind him, the sound evidently on mute. 'I doubt you'll want to go anywhere near the courts just now.'

Eutopia looked up at the big screen to find that the news channel was re-running the murder story. The grey sketched face, so similar yet so different to Eutopia's own, glared down at them both as the Crimestoppers telephone number slid along the bottom of the picture.

'Shit!' she cried, jumping up from where she was sat and almost landing in Jinn's lap as she tripped over him. He reached one arm out to steady her automatically and watched as she made it to the door to grab her backpack that still lay there. 'I have to go, I have to go,' she was intoning, still barefoot as she flipped the latch and pulled on the front door. It was locked. She turned to Jinn wildly. 'I have to _go!'_ she begged as Jinn came to stand before her, his thickly muscled arms crossed over his chest.

'Where will you go?' he asked, simply. Eutopia shook her head, cascading the tangles of her hair into her eyes. She tugged at it, hopelessly, running a hand through it in an attempt to pull it back from her face. 'If you return home, that will be the first place they look. Someone who knows you is bound to recognise that picture and give the police your details.' She knew he was right, but what else could she do?

'Maybe I should turn myself in,' she muttered, glancing up at the TV again, though the newscaster had already moved on to the next item.

'Why?' Jinn asked, looking slightly bemused.

'I've killed two people!' she glared at him, dark blue eyes wide and frightened. 'Haven't you heard? God knows how, but I have. I'm not going to go on the run. I've been running for most of my life and I finally thought this would be the time to stop, that things were going to be ok. I thought wrong, I guess.' Jinn was shaking his head as she spoke.

'You didn't.'

'Didn't what?' Eutopia had turned back to the door and was fiddling with the latch.

'You didn't kill those men. I did.'

She gasped and swirled to face him.

'You?'

'Yes.'

Eutopia leant back against the door, her backpack dropping at her feet as she stared at Jinn in shock. A bombardment of images flashed through her memory but came to an abrupt end, drawing a blank from Ash's final blow to her face and to waking up the next afternoon on Jinn's sofa. In her pain and confusion she never had given much thought to how she came to be there instead of stuffed in the boot of some car; which is where, by all accounts, she should be.

'Oh. Well. I guess that changes everything. Unlock the door please.' Jinn's admission should have terrified her. He had murdered two men and she had been sleeping on his sofa. But she felt strangely calm.

'Where are you going?'

'Well the police want to talk to me about what happened and at the moment I'm probably their number one suspect given that there doesn't seem to be any other witnesses. I need to tell them the truth. You're the one they need to speak to, not me, because I can't really remember what happened that night.' Her voice was pained, eyes pleading with him.

'You can't remember?' Jinn asked.

'No. So please, just let me speak to the police. I won't even mention you if that's what you want. I'll just tell them the truth, I promise. I was there, but I can't remember how it happened because I blacked out.' Eutopia reached down for her backpack again, but Jinn shot a hand out to stop her, catching her wrist and pulling her up straight before she managed to snag the strap.

'They have your DNA. They'll arrest you.'

'How do you know? They didn't mention anything about that on the TV.' Eutopia pulled her wrist from his grip and Jinn didn't stop her.

'Look,' he said, pressing the fingertips of both hands together in a pleading gesture as he took a deep, steadying breath, trying to keep his calm, 'they were attacking you. There were three of them. When I... found you, you were unconscious and one of them was... well,' Jinn turned away from Eutopia, his fists clenching at his sides as he asked softly, 'please, just sit down. For a minute. Let me explain, and then you can decide what you want to do. I'll let you go after that, I promise.'

For a moment, Eutopia didn't move and Jinn turned back to her, wondering at her silence. She nodded once, her delicate jaw set in determination.

'Fine. I'll hear you out and then I'm leaving.' Eutopia picked up her backpack, hugging it to her like a shield as she came to sit on one of the sofas and Jinn settled himself on the other. He took another deep breath.

'There isn't really much more to tell. There were three of them,' Eutopia nodded. Ash. Davey. Jason. She could see two of their faces in her mind, their photos from the news appeal burning in her memory. The other one, Jason, was not so clear. But his dark laugh resonated in her head.

'I know.' She said.

'One of them, Davey I guess, had a car waiting at the other end of the alleyway to take you away somewhere. Ash was too busy with you to notice anything else. I couldn't let it go any further than it already had,' Jinn ran a hand through his hair, eyes fixed on the floor as he spoke and Eutopia noticed for the first time how it fell in gentle, unruly waves that emphasised the strength in his chiselled jaw and she suddenly found his words hard to concentrate on.

'There was blood,' he continued, 'I could see it. On his hand, on your chin, I thought Ash had really hurt you. So I had to stop him. I just had to get him away from you,' Jinn met Eutopia's wide gaze and his indigo eyes flamed with anger, though the smallest of smiles curled his lips. 'It wasn't until afterwards that I realised you had bitten him.' Eutopia winced as she remembered all too clearly the crunch of her teeth on bone, the saltiness of blood on her lips.

'The other two, Davey and Jason, came to see what was taking Ash so long. They didn't see me at first. I suppose they thought I was Ash as I had you in my arms. Davey was the first one to realise, so he had to be the next one to go. I had to put you down to... take care of him, and Jason was so frightened by what he saw that he lost complete interest in you. I suppose you were just a bit of... entertainment for them, and when the going got tough, Jason bottled it.' Eutopia had a feeling that Jinn was holding back on something, but the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit the blanks.

'Why didn't you just call for help for me, or call the police? Wouldn't that have been the most sensible thing to do? You're a murderer,'

'I've been called worse things in the past,'

Eutopia frowned. 'But it's because of me. You're a murderer because of me,' Jinn opened his mouth, like he was about to say something. His dark eyes were soft, but he obviously thought better of it. Eutopia growled in frustration, flinging her head into her hands.

'Oh God, this is such a mess! This wasn't meant to happen. I had it all planned out. Two years I've waited for this and now it's never going to happen.'

'What have you waited for? What were you going to do in London?'

'I was hoping to find my brother,' there was a sadness in Eutopia's voice that made Jinn frown too.

'He is missing?'

'Sort of. We haven't seen each other for about fourteen years,'

'That's a long time. What happened?' Jinn asked, gently.

'We were separated when they put us into care. Our mother died when I was six and Will was eleven, she had cancer.'

'I'm sorry. You were very young.' Jinn said. Eutopia nodded.

'Yes. But in a way, that was a good thing. I was young enough to be wanted by a foster family, I was easier to place. But they didn't have room for my brother.' She paused for a moment, her eyes narrowed into thoughtful slits as she focused on the soft rug on the floor and let the old memories drip back into her consciousness. 'Because he was older, a lot of families thought he would be too much trouble, so he was placed in a children's home. At first Social Services and my foster family both went out of their way to make sure we had regular contact, we saw each other a few times a week and spoke almost every day on the phone. Eventually though, he became a little wild. He fell in with the wrong crowd, started drinking and smoking. People began to stop putting themselves out to help us stay in touch and the contact began to dry up. My new family didn't want me to be influenced by his behaviour, so they wouldn't help me to see him. But once, just before Will turned sixteen, he came to see me,' Eutopia smiled, and Jinn could see that her blue eyes shone suddenly with unshed tears as she looked up at him.

'He climbed up a tree in the back garden. Its branches were long enough to reach my window. They used to tap on the glass in the night and frighten the life out of me,' she shivered, 'I was convinced it was a witch or something tapping for me to let it in. I've been afraid of the dark ever since. When we lived at home Will and I used to share a room. He had a torch; you know one of those little red Playskool ones with the different coloured filters?' She steamed ahead without waiting for Jinn to acknowledge the childhood artefact and he let her talk. 'And whenever I felt afraid in the night he would let me climb into his bed and he would pull this torch out from underneath his pillow and shine it into every corner of the room and then leave it stood on its end on the windowsill, still turned on. He said the beam made a force-field that monsters couldn't cross. He let me have that torch when they split us up but it never worked after our mother died, not even with new batteries. My foster family said it was silly to be afraid of the dark at six years old, so they wouldn't leave the landing light on or even buy me a nightlight. My foster-father took the bulb out from my ceiling light when I went to bed. I guess they hoped it was something I would grow out of. I never did though.' She smiled a little apologetically at Jinn, and he smiled back silently, not wanting to interrupt.

'So the night Will came to see me, it was as dark as anything. My bedroom was at the back of the house, with that tree tap-tapping on the glass. I remember being so scared I hid under the duvet. I was eleven and I still hid under the duvet like a four year old!' Eutopia laughed softly, 'But Will made the branches tap even louder as he climbed the tree. It took him ages to convince me to open the window because I thought he was some kind of, I don't know, ghost or apparition I guess. I left with him that night. We made it all the way to London on the train. We got thrown off twice for not having a ticket, and no one seemed to think it odd that two kids were travelling alone in the middle of the night. But we made it all the way to Waterloo station.'

'And then what happened?' Jinn asked, softly, as Eutopia paused, remembering the cavernous, echoing hall station still teeming with all sorts of life in the darkest hours of the night. She glanced up at him and Jinn saw the tears had fallen from her eyes to roll silently down her cheeks.

'We got caught there, at Waterloo. Someone had reported us at the station because Will jumped over the barrier to use the loo, neither of us had any money on us. Will was quick though, he was always good at running. I was too frightened to run. Will shouted at me as the policeman was taking me out of the train station to put me in the car, he said he would wait for me there, in London, that I was to find him.'

'And you think he's still here?' Jinn asked as Eutopia wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand that she hadn't felt falling until that point.

'I don't see why not. It's worth a try, anyway. I don't really have anywhere else to go. After the police took me back to my foster family, I didn't stay there much longer. I guess I had itchy feet. I wanted to get back to London to find Will. Social services put me down as a lost cause because I wouldn't stay anywhere they tried to place me. I just ran and ran and ran. Foster families refused to take me eventually because I would just disappear for days on end, get myself into trouble, until I got caught. I got good at it though, running away. Eventually I just dropped through the net I suppose and they stopped looking for me.'

'But where did you live? You must have still been a child…' Jinn asked with his softened eyes wide in disbelief.

'I slept rough for a little while and made friends here and there with people who helped me out. I begged, stole mostly, when I had to. I'm not proud of it. Eventually, when I turned sixteen I managed to get a job in a little cafe, clearing tables and washing up, things like that. The owners had a flat above the cafe, they let me live there because they'd just bought themselves a house. It was nice. I never really left after that. I started saving up my money, ran double shifts in a local nightclub too when I turned eighteen, serving drinks until I had enough to last a little while. And here I am two years later. Stuck in the middle of all this bloody mess.' Eutopia began to chew a nail, a habit she had previously grown out of.

'You've come back to London to find your brother. The last thing you need is to be caught up with the police. It wouldn't do for either of us to get tangled up in this. Those guys aren't worth it. You've come so far now; you can't give up what you came here to do.'

'No, I know. But I'll never be able to find Will if I don't get out there and look,' she said, motioning to the lounge window, where darkness had once more fallen outside.

'Then let me help you. Where were you planning to stay?' Jinn asked, standing up.

'I did have a room booked in a hotel,' Eutopia rolled her eyes, dabbing at the scab on her split lip with one fingertip, 'But I messed that up.'

'You don't have any friends or contacts in London?'

'There is one guy I know, a friend I made years ago when I was on the run.' Jinn nodded.

'Right, so we have somewhere we can start to begin looking for Will?'

'Yes, he did live in London for a while before he started going back and forth between Basingstoke, which is where I first met him. We haven't spoken for ages but last I heard, he had moved back to Peckham, I think,' Eutopia agreed, eyeing Jinn with sudden caution, 'What's this 'we' business, though?'

'Well, I figured you'd need a little help. Plus, I have nothing better to do with my time now either, other than avoiding the police.' Eutopia smiled, sheepishly.

'You don't have a job?' she asked.

'Not exactly. I have, ah, an inheritance. There isn't much need for me to work.'

'Oh.'

'So, I have this place outside of London. Maybe it would be best to leave the City tonight and we can work from there as a base. It's not far, maybe an hour's drive or so?'

'I can't drive,' Eutopia said, 'And I couldn't afford a car, even if I could.' Jinn shook his head, pulling a set of keys from his jeans pocket.

'Don't worry about that. Is all your stuff packed?' he asked, nodding at the backpack Eutopia still hugged. She nodded. 'Then lets go.' Eutopia stood and waved a hand around.

'You aren't taking anything?'

'It's mostly rented, the furniture and things. I just need to grab a few bits. I'll meet you downstairs in two.' He tossed her the keys which Eutopia deftly caught. 'Black Mercedes,' he said, before he twisted the lock on the door. Eutopia pulled on the now open latch to find a very short and plainly decorated corridor outside, leading to a flight of blue carpeted stairs heading downwards. She followed the little bend in the stairwell, walking past two other doors on two separate landings. Other flats, she guessed. When the stairs came to an end she found herself faced with a large red door. Eutopia twisted the round silver handle and the door opened silently inwards, letting her out onto the well-lit street. Jinn came up behind her, twitching the key from her fingertips, making her jump. He grinned.

'Sorry,' he said, leading her down the five stone steps and onto the pavement below. 'My car is just here.' Orange side lights flickered on a shiny black Mercedes SL65 parked right in front as Jinn pointed at it with the key. He took Eutopia's bag, giving her an opportunity to look around them as he popped the boot open to load their things. She noted he also had a backpack, though it looked much newer than hers.

'Where are we?' she asked him, tilting her head to take in the tall houses crammed side by side down the whole length of the street. Wrought iron fences and balconies decorated most of them, as did stone flourishes and columns, eked out of clean white stone that looked dull beneath the glow of the street lamps. Everything was so still. Eutopia jumped again as Jinn closed the boot with a thump and snapped open the passenger door for her.

'Kensington,' he replied, closing the door after her before moving around the front of the car to slip into the driver's seat. The engine purred gently and Jinn slid the car into gear before pulling out smoothly into the deserted street. Eutopia glanced at the glowing clock on the dashboard. 22:53. Where was her life going to? All these lost hours... She watched as the tall houses paraded past the window for a little while, the hum of the engine making her eyes feel heavy.

'Do you have any music?' Eutopia reached out to fumble with the confusion of glowing buttons that faced her only to find her hand knocked out of the way by Jinn's as he switched on the radio to prevent her from blasting them with the arctic air-con.

'...on the Mellow Magic Music Hour,' the radio presenter announced softly, the gentle tones of Ed Sheeran filling the air. _'White lips, pale face, breathing in snowflakes...'_ Eutopia settled back in her seat, tucking her bare feet up beneath herself and pulling the seatbelt around her drawn-up knees.

'You aren't wearing any shoes,' Jinn observed, glancing at Eutopia's feet before looking back at the road as he drove into a busier part of town.

'Oh. I must have left them at yours. I don't like wearing shoes much anyway, I'm always leaving them places.' Eutopia shrugged unworried, her head almost resting on her left shoulder as she continued to watch the shops and houses and little knots of people sliding past her window as Jinn managed to keep a steady speed.

'... _sells love to another man, it's too cold outside for angels to fly, angels...'_ A little burst of static made Eutopia sit up, glaring at Jinn as he smiled apologetically. 'Sorry. That song was making me sleepy.' He kept his finger down on the search button, looking for another radio station and then held a hand out to Eutopia when nothing seemed to catch his attention.

'I've got some CDs in the glove compartment, you want to choose one?' Eutopia clicked it open and drew out a small but heavy leather case, flicking quickly through the selection. She squinted in the half-light of the street-lamps as they passed, but it didn't help her make out many of the bands. She picked one at random and placed it into Jinn's waiting hand. Jinn fed it into the CD player and immediately began to tap out the beat on the steering wheel with a grin.

'Good choice,' he said, catching Eutopia's slightly wrinkled nose. 'You don't like AFI?'

'Um... I've never heard of them. My music experience is limited. Leave it though, its fine,' she said, reaching out to stop Jinn from ejecting it. 'I'll listen to anything, if it's good.'

'AFI aren't good, they're great,' he informed her with a withering look. 'I can't believe you would be so small minded.'

'I'm listening to it aren't I?' she smiled, hands up in mock surrender. 'I'll give it a chance.' Eutopia settled back into her seat again to listen to the heavy beat of the music.

'Where are we going?' she asked, trying to get her bearings from any landmark she might recognise as Jinn drove.

'I have a house in Surrey. It's only small, nothing much.'

'Which part of Surrey?' Eutopia asked with a twist in her stomach, thinking of Guildford. Though it wasn't as big as London, nowhere near, she remembered the heavy, tired concrete of the buildings, the crush of offices and shops and the vein of traffic that constantly pulsed through the imposing town centre from her youth. She was a country girl, born and raised in rural Hampshire for the first six years of her life. Eutopia had never forgotten the freedom she had felt as a child in that countryside, the lush green of the hills and hedgerows; the sheer exhilaration she felt simply by looking up at the vast blue sky and realising how tiny she was in comparison. Climbing trees with Will, splashing in ponds on frog hunts. Not that her childhood had been rosy, but it certainly glowed with movie-like innocence compared to what had awaited her on the other side of her tenth birthday. Jinn caught the strained note in her voice.

'My house is in Farnham. Are you ok?' he shot a glance at Eutopia, who was fiddling with the CD case again, barely looking at any of the discs as she flipped over each plastic sleeve.

'Oh. Yes, fine. I know Farnham,' she smiled, feeling the knot in her tummy relax. 'Nice place.' Jinn nodded, and they both lapsed into silence.

 _'_ _...Your sins into me, oh my beautiful one, your sins into me...'_

Jinn snuck another glance at Eutopia, who was absently stroking the fingertips of her right hand over her left arm, her eyes glazed as she stared out of the windscreen ahead. In the half-light of the dashboard he could make out the faint scars that he knew criss-crossed the inside of her wrist in a silvery web.


	5. Chapter 5

In a small and untidy office belonging to the Metropolitan Police, Detective Inspector James Mason was rubbing his tired eyes, hooking the thin wire frames of his spectacles up from the bridge of his nose with one finger. He should have been home hours ago, but that was the nature of the beast. Unscheduled over time. A sharp knock made him sit up and sigh wearily.

'Come.'

Detective Sergeant Paul Rose eased his considerable bulk through the office door and sat himself down on the blue plastic chair on the other side of Mason's desk. He flung a beige file down on top of the papers that lay scattered about. He rested the second file he carried on top of his knees after hitching up his grey polyester trousers. The grey shirt he wore, that probably was white once, strained against the considerable expanse of his belly.

'Got the DNA results back on the bite mark, Guv. An out-of-townie,' he said, his greying moustache twitching beneath his pig-like nose. Mason leant across the desk to pick up the file and flip it open. He looked, bewildered, at the mug shot of a skinny thirteen year old girl who was staring obstinately down the lens of the camera, her eyes guarded and her long hair falling about her white face in wild tangles. Rose caught the raised eyebrows of the Inspector. 'It's an old photo, Guv. The only one we've got on the computer. I've checked PNC. Eutopia Midnite.' He jabbed a short, stubby finger at the printed details beneath the photograph.

'Strange name. And is she?'

'Is she what, Guv?'

'A lady of the night?'

'A prozzie, you mean?' The delicate Inspector flinched at the crude term. He was younger than his boorish Sergeant by at least fifteen years and quite clearly bred from a different kettle of fish, so to speak. He'd made it as high as he had at a surprisingly young age through his sheer commitment to the job, which of course had led to vicious jokes about how he'd slept his way to the top. There were rumours that the pretty-boy, with his immaculate suits, pastel coloured shirts and designer haircuts batted for the other side, but Rose had never really given it much thought. He grinned, showing stumpy teeth yellowed by years of tobacco abuse. 'No, Guv. There isn't any record of her having been arrested for it, anyway. Mother seems to have been a hippy-tupe.' Rose pointed to the long list of offences that covered the next two pages of A4. 'Look, she's a petty criminal, a thief. These here, all shoplifting spanning from 2001 'til '03. This photo is from the last recorded offence in July '03, in Surrey. Unlucky bugger got caught on her birthday.'

'Did she get a custodial sentence?' Mason asked, flicking through the file to see if any young offenders unit was mentioned.

'Not that I could see, Guv... there was a plea made for admission to a secure unit, but the little chick ran away from the foster home she was placed with until the hearing.' He sat back in the chair, causing the plastic to creak unstably beneath his weight. Rose stretched his arms out, popping his shoulders before linking his hands behind his balding head, revealing the copious sweat patches that stained his armpits. 'Same old story, I guess, seen it too many times. Kid gets abused, put into care, gets abused, runs away then begs borrows or steals her way to an early death snowed out on crack, or gets locked behind bars for going crazy on her pimp after one beating too many.'

'You know what too many assumptions do, Sergeant Rose?' Mason asked, his hazel eyes hard.

'Make an ass of you and me, Guv,' Rose replied, confidently, grinning slightly at the irritation on the Inspectors face.

'Exactly. So, let's stick to the cold hard facts. We have two dead men. One victim has a human bite mark on his hand that matches the DNA of a known thief from out of the area. There are no known reports of this girl ever having been arrested for assault or battery?' he asked, glancing down at the file to check for himself. 'No. So, the questions we need to answer now are what happened, and why? I take it the CCTV footage came up blank?'

'Only images we have are from the Three Feathers, Guv.'

'Which is the pub where the men were drinking?'

'Yes, Guv. Only interesting point is that three of them leave together, talking to each other. We have a bit of footage from outside the pub which shows two of the men leaving after they all have a fag, David and another bloke, which leaves Ashley alone. Unfortunately the angle of the camera doesn't cover the road, so we can't see what happened when he crossed the street. And the image isn't good enough to get a clear picture of the other bloke, so we have no clue who he is. And the witnesses spoken to from the pub had never seen any of the three men before that night.'

'So that's from the pub CCTV, but what about the street cameras?' but Rose was shaking his head even before the question was finished.

'No good, Guv. Some technical fault or something. All cameras within a four mile radius of Short Street were down from about 5pm that evening until about the same time the next day, but by then we were all over the scene like flies on sh...'

'Yes, thank you, Sergeant, I get the picture,' Mason interrupted, slipping a hand beneath the wire rim of his glasses to rub his eyes again. Rose folded back the front cover of the file he still held, revealing the grim photograph of Ashley Jones, one of the grisly murder victims. It wasn't a crime scene photo, it was a mug shot similar to the girls though much more recent. The icy blue eyes were nonchalant, blank, as they stared ahead; pale hair so blonde and short it appeared almost absent. Rose waggled his overgrown eyebrows, giving the impression of two shaggy caterpillars wriggling across his forehead as his muddy brown eyes creased in amusement at his trump card. 'Jones. Ashley Jones, Guv. One of the victims.' The Inspector leaned forward in his chair as his interest was sparked again. He twitched the file towards him, turning it round the right way so he could read the text.

'No one mentioned any previous,' Mason said, feeling a little bit irritated. 'Two counts of rape and one of false imprisonment,' he confirmed, speed reading through the information. 'Both victims dropped all the charges.' He looked thoughtful, one finger drumming absently on top of the file as he nodded at Rose. 'So, you think this confirms your theory?'

'Not confirms, exactly Guv, we don't want to make any assumptions. I just think it might explain a little bit, or at least give us a starting point. We could ask around the known places in the area, bring in a few of the regular girls and see if they knew him,' he nodded at the photo in a contemptuous manner. If there was one thing Rose was infamous for at the station, it was his hate for pimps. He had a daughter himself with his ex-wife. Hannah. She was twenty three now and lived in Manchester with a friend she'd met at Uni, much to Rose's dismay. He knew what the city life could be like for girls like her, vulnerable and impressionable. God help anyone who tried to lead her down the wrong path. 'Might be that he was already or attempting to pimp out girls. Maybe stepped on another guys toes?' He shrugged his rounded shoulders, 'Or tried to set up the wrong chicky, maybe, who knows?' They both slipped into thoughtful silence for a moment.

'This girl,' Rose finally said, shuffling the files so that Ashley's slid aside and the young girl was visible again. 'We have a previous address for her. The last recorded one from when this picture was taken. It's somewhere in Surrey, Guildford I think.' The Inspector glanced at the file again to double check and nodded in silent confirmation. 'I was thinking it might be worth dropping in, speak to the family if they still live there, see if the girl keeps in contact with them.'

'Yes, good idea. The post mortem report should be finalised and written up soon, we might know a little bit more then.'

Rose nodded, though he doubted the report would be able to say much more than was obvious. One man had bled to death from a knife wound to his throat; the other had had an argument with the front of his own car and lost. But hey, he was just a Sergeant, what did he know?


	6. Chapter 6

The bright glare of the service station lights made Eutopia squint, invading the quiet shadows of the car.

'Are we stopping?' she asked, looking over at Jinn and noting the tension in his solid jaw.

'Just for a minute,' he replied, pulling up next to a petrol pump, un-clicking his seat belt and jumping out of the car in one fluid movement. She was surprised by Jinn's sudden abruptness since they had slipped into a companionable silence for the most part of the journey. Eutopia turned in her seat to follow Jinn with her eyes as he stalked purposefully past the fuelling station and stopped at the driver's side window of the dark blue Saab parked behind.

'What's he doing?' she murmured to herself as she watched Jinn pull open the car door. 'Oh, God!' Eutopia flung her door open and tried to clamber out of the car quickly, only to be restrained by her seatbelt. 'Bugger, bugger!' she panicked, fumbling to release the catch before she stumbled over to the Saab where Jinn had the driver slung over the bonnet of the glittering paintwork and pinned down by the throat. Eutopia launched herself at Jinn, grabbing his heavily muscled arm and trying to pull it away as the man gasped for air.

'What are you doing?!' she cried in disbelief, 'Jinn, let him go, you'll kill him!' Eutopia pounded her fist as hard as she could against Jinn's unyielding muscle but Jinn's fiery eyes were burning into the man in front of him.

'He's been following us,' was all he said, coolly, without looking at the girl beside him. The man sprawled out on the bonnet was in his early forties and smartly dressed; a businessman perhaps. Through his own shock and confusion he made note of the battered and bruised looking girl who stood terrified beside the tank of a man who held him down.

'What?' he sneered, his shaking voice strangled by the hand squeezing his neck, 'you're such a big man, gonna beat me up like you've done your girlfriend?!' Jinn's hand tightened all the more, causing the man to splutter and choke as his eyes blazed.

'Please,' Eutopia begged, quieter, 'let him go, Jinn, we have to get going.' It was the fear in her voice that made Jinn look around at her and he caught the terror in her eyes. He looked up at the pay kiosk where the shop attendant was gazing out, slack-jawed, from behind the glass. Luckily there were no other cars around, no other witnesses. Jinn let go of the shaking man who scuttled back quickly into his car and revved the engine before he'd even closed the door.

'You're mental!' was his parting comment out of his window, his tyres squealing against the courtyard in his haste to get away. Jinn looked back at Eutopia who was stood trembling and staring wide eyed at him. He caught her upper arm gently and steered her back to his car, leaning in to fasten her seatbelt when she made no move to do it herself before closing the door behind her.

'What the hell were you thinking?' she growled at him as he pulled the car away with an echoing screech. Jinn could see her fear had given way to anger now and it caused his lips to turn up slightly, though fury still emanated from him in waves that Eutopia could feel like static against her skin.

'He was following us. He'd been tailing us for at least six miles.'

'Jesus, Jinn. It's a motorway. There is only one direction cars can go on this road and it happens to be the same direction as us!' Eutopia pulled her legs up onto the seat to rest her chin on her knees, massaging her bare toes absently as she watched him watch the road. 'You've probably made more trouble now. He'll probably report you to the police and they'll check the CCTV and see me with you.' She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, snarling through gritted teeth in frustration, 'Why does my life have to be such a mess?'

'Peace,' Jinn said, softly, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

'What?' she asked, weary with worry.

'Peace. Take it easy. It'll come out in the wash and all that crap.' Jinn looked at Eutopia more seriously. 'Everything happens for a reason.'

'Do you really believe that?' she asked.

'Yes, I do. Truly.' He grinned, sexily, and then reached out to turn the music up, filling the car with a heavy beat that made Eutopia smile too.

The crunch of tyres on gravel woke Eutopia from the doze she'd been lulled into, despite Jinn's taste for pounding music. The dashboard clock glowed 23:58. They'd made good time. She glanced out of the window as Jinn slowed the car to a stop and she could see nothing but the dark lacy shapes of trees surrounding the huge gravelled drive. The immense bulk of Jinn's 'small' house loomed up on her left in utter darkness, its features shrouded by the night.

'We're here,' Jinn said, unnecessarily as he cut the engine and released the boot catch. The cool night air caused Eutopia to shiver slightly as Jinn climbed out of the car, it was still cold for August and she thought it might rain again soon. She slid out and stretched, closing the door as quietly as she could though the sound echoed around the still driveway. Jinn was already stood in front of the wide door fiddling with the lock and a complicated keypad, their bags resting at his feet. Each key gave a computerised bleep as he entered a code and it was obviously taking him a little while to remember it correctly as Eutopia could hear him muttering under his breath. She stifled a yawn, still feeling tired since she hadn't really slept properly in the car. Travelling always made her sleepy.

'Sorry, I haven't been here for a little while,' he apologised, finally wrenching open the heavy oak door and leading the way inside.

Eutopia was too weary to really be impressed by what she saw in the cavernous entrance hall as Jinn switched on the lights, illuminating the airy space with the crystal chandelier that hung twinkling from the ridiculously high ceiling. A wide staircase swept up straight in front of her, the shiny bare floorboards laid out with a rich and fussy carpet. High arched doorways branched off from either side of her heading into who knew where. Despite the glitter and gleam of opulence that Eutopia could see already there was a definite emptiness that had nothing to do with the lack of occupants or the late hour. This place had not been lived in for a long time. Jinn, having made sure the door was locked behind them, had disappeared leaving Eutopia alone in the hallway. Every now and then a burst of warm light would seep from various rooms to join the pool in the hall where she stood. Despite the lamplight Eutopia still felt afraid, though she knew it was due to more than her fear of the dark. She noticed a large oil painting hung in an ornate gilt frame on the wall above a spindly hall-table which held a telephone that might have been new in the 1930's. Moving closer to examine the picture Eutopia found that the subtle pink, purple and gold tones that had first caught her attention actually depicted a sunrise. The gentle green hills beneath the luminous sky were tainted gold, the twisting scraggy trees that reached up to the rolling clouds reminding her of somewhere else; some sort of Italian countryside depicted by Van Gough, or was it Monet? She could never remember. Eutopia raised a hand, fingertips brushing the thick paint where in the gap of two of the hills lay a little smudge of white, a suggestion of a building, a house perhaps, or a villa?

'Shall I show you to your room?' Jinn's soft voice caused her heart to skip a beat and she whirled on the spot to face him, her hands clasped behind her back like a guilty child caught in the biscuit tin.

'I wasn't touching anything.' Eutopia muttered as he laughed, kindly. An unreadable emotion flickered briefly across his beautiful face as he looked at the girl stood alone and vulnerable in the entrance of his home, the uncertainty and fear at her situation registered clearly in every inch of her body. 'It's OK,' he reassured her, 'it's an old painting. It doesn't matter if you break it.'

'I wasn't going to break it,' she said irritably, 'I was only looking at it. It's beautiful. I love the sunrise.'

'How do you know it's not a sunset?' he asked, one eyebrow raised.

'It's too hopeful to be a sunset,' Eutopia replied, confidently, as she turned again to trail a finger over the purple brush strokes. 'Sunsets are always gloomy. This is a sunrise; you can feel the anticipation, the hopefulness.'

'Well perhaps you should get some sleep before the next sunrise? Or would you like something to eat first?' he asked, as though the thought had only just occurred to him. 'I take it you didn't eat anything back in London?' he reached down for his backpack that lay where he had left it. 'There won't be any food here, but I did grab some stuff before we left the flat.'

'Actually, something to eat might be a good idea, thanks.'

'Sure. The kitchen's this way.' Eutopia followed Jinn down the length of the hall towards the back of the house to find a sprawling kitchen that was littered with every gadget and appliance that must have ever been invented. She smiled at how different the space was in comparison to Jinn's other kitchen. This room was warm and inviting with its soft honey coloured cupboards and terracotta tiles, the cream coloured lace that swept down from the French doors and the chunky butchers block table nestled in the corner. Eutopia instantly felt at home as Jinn swept out a chair from beneath the table and motioned for her to sit. He walked to one of the work surfaces and began to unload various packets and tins from his backpack.

'Cheese on toast?' he asked, holding up the small loaf and block of cheese so she could see. 'It's the quickest thing I can think of. That damn agar takes forever to kick start.'

'Perfect,' Eutopia grinned, resting her elbows on the table and watching as Jinn set about making it for her. Neither of them had spoken of the incident at the service station since the hyped tension between them had melted in the car. Jinn had every right to be paranoid and angry, she supposed, since he hadn't asked to become involved in her mess. Eutopia's stomach growled appreciatively as the rich smell of melting cheese reached her from the grill and thankfully it wasn't long before Jinn set a plate down in front of her.

'You aren't having any?' Eutopia asked, as Jinn took the seat opposite her and dwarfed the small table with his size.

'No. I never eat this late. Bad for the figure,' he grinned, patting the tight muscle of his obviously toned stomach. 'You go ahead though.' Eutopia was too hungry to worry about her figure, and made short work of the two slices on her plate. She began to eat the third slice that Jinn topped her up with more slowly, her hunger sated now.

'You aren't from here, are you?' Eutopia asked him, curiously.

'From Surrey?'

'From England. Your accent, it's sort of funny. Is it American?' Jinn smiled and shook his head as he settled more comfortably into his chair.

'No, I'm not from England. Or America. I've travelled. A lot. I guess I've just picked up different mannerisms from all over. No one's ever described it as funny before, though.' He smirked, amused. Eutopia was struggling with her fourth piece of cheese on toast now, pushing the crumbs and stringy cheese around with a half eaten crust.

'You don't have to eat it all. I won't be offended. You want to see your room now?' Jinn asked as he stood up.

'Thanks,' Eutopia nodded, sleepily, following Jinn out of the kitchen and up the huge staircase to the floor above.

The bedroom Jinn showed Eutopia to was bigger than any hotel room she'd ever stayed in, and as richly and ostentatiously decorated as the other parts of the house that she'd seen. Stately-Country-Chic if she had to give the style a name. But despite the comfort of the furnishings, there was a coldness that Eutopia couldn't shake. After Jinn had pointed out the en-suite that contained a huge claw-footed bath, which Eutopia would have jumped straight into had she been less tired, he had reminded her his room was across the hall should she want anything, and had left her to get some sleep. Her whole frame jangled with the need for slumber and so, despite the unfamiliar room that would usually prevent her from doing so, she curled up on the high king-sized bed and nestled in amongst the sumptuous down-filled duvet without even bothering to get changed or even pull the heavy drapes at the tall window.


	7. Chapter 7

'Are you sure the Master and Mistress won't know?' Aisha asked Eirene anxiously, her plump lips twisted with worry. Eirene smiled and shook her head.

'How could they? When was the last time either of them came into the kitchen to check their stock? Phoibe orders all the goods we need and what can she do to us? Scold us? The worst she will do is refuse us dinner. And trust me, Aisha, you'll be having too much fun to even feel hungry!' Eirene giggled softly. 'I can't believe you've never tasted it before.' A sacred hush fell over the two girls as the gentle gurgle of liquid splashing into a cup bubbled into the still kitchen. Phoibe was in the market that afternoon, bustling about as always and the two girls had been left to finish preparing the dinner. In the two months that the Master had bought from his sister by showering her with precious pieces of jewellery and fine clothes, Aisha and Eirene had been brought together by the sheer similarity of their age. With no one else but poor old fuddled Phoibe they sought companionship in each other. Aisha had regaled Eirene with stories from her childhood in the plains of Africa, terrifying her with tales of lions and stampeding beasts. Eirene had made Aisha roar with laughter at her anecdotes of her previous life with her beloved old Scholar. Now, the dying afternoon sun found them crouched in a far corner of the kitchen with a jug of wine between them and a silver cup.

'You have the first sip.' Aisha thrust the cup into Eirene's hands and Eirene took a large swallow, her dark eyes gleaming defiantly.

'See. It isn't poison.' Despite the other girl's claim, Aisha shivered before accepting the offered cup and peering cautiously into it.

'You obviously didn't open the right stuff,' Aisha said, looking suspiciously at the dark red liquid as she swirled it around. 'Honestly, I swear its blood!'

'Just drink it!' Eirene giggled, the sound tapering into a gasp as Aisha passed her back the empty vessel. 'I didn't mean all in one go.' Eirene topped up the cup and took it for herself, swigging the whole thing back without stopping for breath. She grinned, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. The rest of the afternoon passed in the same hazy manner of drinking and refilling the cup with wine as they shared it between them. The rest of the dinner lay unprepared on the kitchen table.

'Well just look at the state of you two,' boomed Phoibe, her lengthening shadow cast upon the stone floor of the kitchen as she stood over the girls tangled together in the corner. The old woman's tone was tinged with hysteria as she bent down to pull them both up by the hair with surprising strength to get a good look at their unfocused eyes. She noticed the empty jug and the toppled silver cup. 'Drunk!' she exclaimed, letting them fall back into a laughing heap at her feet, wringing her hands, 'on the Master's wine. Oh my, oh my. There's nothing for it. The Senator is here, the Senator!' she screeched at the two girls, who were both too interested in trying to clamber to their feet to notice Phoibe's panic.

'You never said, Beefy,' Eirene mumbled, mustering all her power of thought to form her words, having made it unsteadily to stand with her back against the cool stone wall. She reached a hand down to help Aisha to her feet. Aisha, however, having managed to make it onto her knees, fell back to all fours with a snort of hysterical laughter.

'Beefy!' she cried, 'that's not her name! It's..' but evidently Phoibe's name was too tricky for Aisha to say either and she dissolved into a fit of giggles that made Eirene giggle too. Phoibe, at her wits end already, had managed to slice and arrange a variety of fruit onto a platter in record time, placing a little pot of golden honey on the side to then shove it into Eirene's unsteady hands.

'Bacchus help us, you'll have to serve Eirene, it's too late now. Aisha is in no fit state.' The old woman eyed the heap of white toga and ebony limbs that was Aisha crumpled at her feet. 'They're waiting.' She gripped Eirene's small chin between her gnarled fingers, her misty eyes kind despite her anger. 'You're a good girl really, don't ruin it, Eirene. Don't. Just keep these closed,' she said, pinching Eirene's lips together with a force that made the girl wince. 'The table is all set, I laid it before I left, thank Vesta.' Despite the new religion of the Master and Mistress, the old gods had not yet left Phoibe's heart. She spun the unsteady Eirene on her bare heel and gave her a little shove out of the door.

Eirene made painfully slow progress down the hallway, pausing every now and then to right the platter she carried and prevent the food from slipping. She concentrated on keeping each step steady and leant against the doorway for a moment, taking a deep breath as she reached the dining room, before she slipped beneath the gauzy curtain. As she expected, Master Alexis and his sister Liviana were reclined in all their resplendence, but a third couch was filled by the sprawling frame of the heavyset Senator Cato. His snow white hair was cropped close to his head as was the fashion, which seemed only to emphasise the bulbous nature of his features. He was steaming on with the conversation, about the new religion, if Eirene could trust her fuzzy ears, but paused as he noticed her kneeling at the table, trying to place the platter amongst all the other delicacies with slow and deliberate movements. Alexis watched her too, though Liviana picked up the lull in conversation as though Eirene had never entered the room. Despite the happy haze Eirene swayed in she could feel the temperature radiating from the Mistress had definitely dropped by a few degrees.

'You don't believe in moving with the times, Senator?' Liviana trilled.

'I'm an old man, Liviana, I don't like change,' he chuckled, causing his great frame to wobble. His sharp eyes traced the form of the kneeling girl as he held out his cup for wine. Unfortunately, Eirene was still too busy concentrating on the fruit platter. She had placed it at an angle which let the honey ooze out from the little pot Phoibe had poured it into and she was carefully trying to scoop it back in with a finger before anyone else noticed.

'Eirene,' barked Liviana motioning to the cup that Cato held out with his pale, fleshy hand. Eirene looked up quickly, her eyes unfocused as she followed the motion to see what the problem was. She pouted slightly, looking back at the table to locate the wine jug. A long, silent moment passed, in which she could feel Liviana's fury building. The Mistress didn't like to be embarrassed. But everything on the table was so blurry that Eirene found it almost impossible to make any sense out of the various shapes and colours. A little cough made her look up to find Alexis making an exaggerated path with his eyes. Eirene followed it with a wide arch of her hand to find her fingers close around the handle of the jug. She beamed beatifically, pleased with the simple accomplishment, and carefully got to her feet. Kneeling before the Senator Eirene sloshed the wine a little too fast into his cup, causing it to jump over the rim and splash onto the sleeve of his tunica. It spread in a bruise-like stain, seeping into the white silken fabric.

'Oh,' Eirene uttered softly, putting down the jug to wipe frantically at the mark, but leaving sticky honey tracks in her wake instead. The Senator huffed, gruffly and batted her fingers away.

'What's going on?' Liviana sat up on her couch to peer over at them to see Eirene mopping at the spilled wine on the floor with the hem of her own tunica, spoiling the white fabric. Alexis sat up too, curious. Senator Cato chuckled, catching Eirene's arm and pulling her up to his eye level as he remained relaxed on his own couch.

'Nothing that some attention from this little one wouldn't fix,' he licked his lips, steely eyes sweeping over Eirene. 'You do manage to find them, Alexis. This one is new? Where is the other exotic beauty you have? If you've grown bored of her already, send her my way.' Alexis smiled a tight smile.

'It isn't a case of boredom, Cato,' Alexis said.

'He plans to educate them.' Liviana interrupted, the withering expression on her magnificent face showed that she clearly did not hold to her brother's ideals.

'Educate? You can't educate a slave, my boy! They are born to serve, not to learn,' Cato bellowed in disbelief, wrenching Eirene's face up by the chin so that her delicate features caught more of the light, 'do you wish to be educated, girl?' he snorted.

'Yes.' Eirene's glazed eyes burnt with a sudden passion that made Cato let go of her.

'Don't be so obstinate and imperious,' his previous good nature seemed to be evaporating fast as he turned to look at Liviana. 'Educate them and they'll demand more. A wage. Freedom, even. And where will that leave Rome?' The woman sighed and nodded which let the gold thread and large pearls woven into her flaxen hair catch the light.

'I have tried to explain this to my brother, Senator. But he is a stubborn man.' Liviana said, shooting a hard glance at Alexis across the room.

'Some things are best left alone,' Cato said, his hand reaching out to clasp the soft curve of Eirene's cheek, caressing it with a thumb. 'Pretty girls like this have only two uses. Service at dinner and the other I will not mention in good female company, to spare your blushes, Liviana,' he grinned. Eirene arched her back suddenly, pulling her face away from Cato's hand, his fingers sticky with juice from the meat he had eaten earlier.

'Don't,' she said, eyes blazing. His touch made her queasy, and the copious amount of wine she had consumed that afternoon didn't help matters. She could feel her temper rising. Cato's eyes narrowed as he looked back at the girl, leaning in a little closer to her to catch the scent on her breath.

'Hm. Seems your plan to keep your girls compliant through wine are failing miserably, Alexis. This one is starting to think for herself.' He grinned and reached out again for the girl's soft skin, his fingertips just grazing her cheek.

' _Noli me tangere!_ Don't touch me.' Eirene shouted suddenly, jumping to her feet.

'She is drunk!' Liviana cried regaining her own feet as Eirene swayed on the spot. 'Senator, I beg your forgiveness for us letting such an insolent girl serve you. Please excuse me.' She swept from the room before Alexis could say anything, catching Eirene by a handful of her loose, unbound hair on the way, and hurried out into the atrium with the girl away from hearing of the dining room. Eirene stumbled and tripped along beside the Mistress, yelping as she stubbed her bare toe against the base of the pretty, babbling fountain. Eirene flung her arms out to steady herself as their motion came to an abrupt end, reaching for the high rim of the marble pool as the snap of a lash came down upon her back causing her to cry out in surprise and pain.

'You foolish girl!' snarled Liviana, raising the short whip again that she had drawn from the folds of the pale blue stola she wore _._ Eirene knew better than to turn around to catch it in her face and so gripped the edge of the pool with white knuckles, biting her lip to stifle the cry that ripped from her throat as the lash came down once more, tearing into her tunica and slicing her skin. 'You have embarrassed us in front of the Senator. Is what your Master and I do for you not enough? We clothe you; feed you more than the scraps you would be lucky to receive in any other household. If it was not for our kindness you would be on your back in brothel by now. Ungrateful little...'

'Liviana!' Alexis' sharp reproving tone cut through the atrium and the next blow Eirene was expecting never came. She chanced a glance over her thin, shaking shoulder to see Alexis stood before Liviana, one forearm pressed hard across the woman's chest to pin her against the nearest marble pillar, his other hand gripping the wrist of the hand that held the whip. 'She is a child!' he growled, prising it from her slender fingers.

'She is ungrateful, thieving _caenum_ , Alexis, an embarrassment. What kind of family must the Senator think we are, letting drunken slaves wait on him? She needs to be punished.'

Alexis' eyes burned into his sisters, his striking jaw set with a fierceness that Liviana had never seen before. He raised the whip high, its black shadow cast razor thin across the alabaster skin of Liviana's face, who watched it with sharp gold eyes.

'Do it then,' she said through gritted teeth and three pairs of eyes watched as it remained aloft for a moment, suspended and motionless. Alexis suddenly threw the whip away from him, watching it skid across the smooth floor before he turned back to his sister with anger in every line of his body that dictated the harsh grip he had on the front of Liviana's robes.

'She is mine. She is my property,' he said with a dangerously quiet tone, pressing Liviana back against the unforgiving stone with each word, as if to emphasise his point, 'and you will not touch her. Her headache in the morning will be punishment enough. Now go back and soothe the Senator. I will have Phoibe send out Aisha with the next course. _Go,'_ he urged angrily, sensing Liviana's hesitancy as he let go of her. It was only as Liviana shrank an inch or two to settle level with Alexis that Eirene realised he had been holding her off the ground. With a frustrated noise the tall woman swirled away in a cloud of pale blue and lilac silk, leaving Eirene alone with Alexis. His strong hand rested on the girl's shoulder, turning her gently on the spot to face him. He could see the tears that wet her cheeks, the deep blue of her eyes soft in her pain.

'I'm not a child,' she said, boldly, though the bow of her lip trembled.

'You behave like one,' Alexis replied, holding her unwavering gaze. She was silent. 'I know you ran away,' he continued. 'Phoibe tells me everything.'

'I came back,' Eirene said, weakly.

'Obviously.' Alexis smiled slightly, 'but why? You could have kept on running. I wouldn't have stopped you.' Eirene raised her head, tossing the dark hair from her eyes. Alexis reached out to brush his fingertips lightly over the circlet of silver, engraved with the words _Noli me tangere,_ which imprisoned the girls willowy neck.

'Is that why you came back, because I didn't come for you?' he asked, quietly, gentle fingers reaching to catch the new tears that fell from Eirene's eyes. He saw the strength in her fragile defensiveness at that moment, admired the blistering vulnerability he felt spilling from her as she whispered.

'Yes.'

'You want more than this don't you?' he observed. 'More than your life can offer you. I can see it in your eyes, the hunger that burns in your soul.' Eirene was unsure if it was the heady strength of the wine she had drunk that made her head spin and her stomach flutter lightly, the stinging bloody welts on her back all but forgotten as she gazed up at Alexis.

'Yes,' she said. He nodded thoughtfully, indigo eyes gleaming.

'I can give you more, if that is what you want. Liviana speaks the truth when she says I wish to educate you.'

'You will teach me to read, Master?' Eirene gasped in amazement, innocent joy lighting up her face with such sincerity that Alexis chuckled.

'If you wish it, yes.' He leant in close to the girl. 'Do you think Bacchus and his minions have befuddled your mind too much to begin now?' he asked, with an amused grin.

'Not at all, Master! I barely drank anything,' Eirene said, with a face that glowed with shame. The excitement of his offer had chased the fog of wine that still bogged the edges of her consciousness, though most of her sobriety had returned instantly with the first bite of Liviana's lash. Alexis laughed again, delighted by her eagerness.

'Then come, we will go to my study. Liviana will be in her element apologising profusely to Senator Cato for your behaviour, I won't be missed,' he added as he was striding from the atrium towards a curtained doorway off to the left, set between two thick, sleek columns of white marble. The room beyond was furnished in a simple, practical way with a desk taking up most of the room in the centre. It was the cool colours of the bright frescoes decorating the room that caught Eirene's attention. A beautiful, leafy garden was depicted at various points across all four walls, giving the illusion of lithe, reaching trees leaning in through windows that weren't really there, their branches populated by tiny birds frozen in the act of singing. Two stools were set at the desk, one either side. Alexis pulled them both over to a wooden panel that turned out to be a door leading outside as he tugged it open to let the soft light of the growing dusk that had settled in the pleasure garden creep into the study. The delicate lilt of birdsong slipped in with the rich, burning orange of the setting sun, diffusing the awkwardness Eirene suddenly felt at being so alone with her handsome Master. She settled herself on the floor in front of one of the stools, leaning her arms on the wooden seat as she watched Alexis take down a handful of scrolls from various shelves of the many that lined the length of one wall. He folded his tall frame onto the unoccupied stool, though his height meant he had to stoop lowly to show a scroll to Eirene as he unrolled it, the others piled on the floor at his side.

'I think you're beyond the capabilities of the alphabet. It's probably a good idea for you to begin learning to recognise important words you might come across in day to day life. Look, we'll start with this one.' His large finger brushed over the black inked lines as he pointed out the first word etched onto the papyrus he held. A glimmer of silver caught Eirene's attention and her eyes were drawn to the round ring he wore on the index finger of his left hand, its surface flat and carved with two words. Alexis realised her attention was caught by his ring and not the words he had been pointing out.

'The words probably won't make sense to you,' he smiled, 'they are written backwards so that when I stamp it to seal and sign documents the words appear the right way round. _Libera Vivas_.' He lowered his hand so that the ring was in direct view of Eirene, who had inched closer to his feet as her interest burned.

'May you live free,' she repeated, reaching out to trace the tiny letters with one finger. Alexis nodded, sliding the ring off his finger and handing it to her so that she could study the words more closely, tilting it towards the fading rays of light that still clung to the cluster of cypress trees lining the path leading out from the study and into the garden. She pulled the scroll towards herself that Alexis had previously unrolled, spreading it out on the floor of the study. With the ring in one hand as a reference Eirene poured over the papyrus, running a slim finger from her free hand along each intricately inked word.

'Libera,' she smiled happily, seeking confirmation from Alexis as she tapped the word she had recognised. Alexis peered over her shoulder for a moment before he came to settle himself on the floor beside her, pushing the two stools away to make room for his large frame.

'That's right, can you find that word again in this scroll?' he unrolled another length of papyrus and held it out before Eirene. She frowned with concentration, pushing her heavy dark curls away from her shining blue eyes as they darted along each line. It didn't take long for the girl to point out the same word.

'Good!' Alexis praised her, a generous smile warming his smoothly chiselled features. His steady finger pointed out another word, his velvety voice enunciating it carefully. Eirene traced the word with her own finger, committing the sharp lines of the deftly formed letters to memory as she echoed the word. The next hour or so passed in the same manner, with Alexis' unwavering patience as he intoned various words and their meanings and Eirene pointing out the words in each scroll he placed before her. When Eirene's nose almost began to brush the surface of the papyrus as she fought against the lengthening evening shadows to see the scrolls, Alexis laid a gentle hand on her head.

'Enough, Eirene. You'll hurt your eyes. I should have had the lamps lit. We will study more tomorrow.' The girl nodded in defeat.

'Does your back hurt?' he asked.

'A bit,' Eirene admitted, her cheeks flushing at the memory of being whipped like a common mule in a marketplace.

'I will instruct Phoibe to tend to it for you. Despite her sharp tongue she has gentle hands and an even gentler heart.'

'I know,' Eirene agreed with a tone of disappointment that he should not be the one to nurse her and the thought made her face blaze as hot as an ember and she was glad for the cool shadows of the room.

'Take heed of that sting Eirene, and do not seek to anger my sister again,' Alexis said in a tone that was almost pleading.

'Yes, _Dominus_ ,' she answered, slinking off into the shadows that had crept further still into the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Tears stained Eutopia's cheeks as she woke, disorientated in the bright light of the bedroom. She had fallen asleep with the light on but the window to the right of her enormous bed was still black. She glanced at the nightstand beside her for a clock, but didn't find one. It was clearly still night though, if the blackness outside was anything to go by. A heavy sigh escaped her as she rubbed a hand over her face, trying to shake off the sadness that still clung to her from the dream she'd been having. Eutopia untangled her legs from the duvet and slid off the bed soundlessly onto the floor. She crept across the room and into the hall, crossing the space without even thinking about what she was doing. Her thoughts were still fuzzy in the cocoon of sleep, safe in that space that was halfway between waking and dreaming. Opening Jinn's door without knocking Eutopia let the welcoming beam from a bedside light spill over her toes as she glanced sleepily about for him. She couldn't get rid of the empty loneliness her dream had left her with and she felt the need to be near somebody, even if it was that strange yet somehow familiar man.

Eutopia found Jinn laid on his bed on the other side of the room, his back propped against a mountain of pillows and his un-booted feet crossed at the ankle. He had a book in his hands, his black hair loose about his broad shoulders. He glanced up at the soft creak his door made as Eutopia entered, looking dishevelled from sleep and a little bit haunted.

'Are you OK?' he asked, placing the book face down on the bed as he sat up. The girl nodded, her eyelids were heavy with the slumber she longed to return to.

'Strange dream s'all,' she mumbled, climbing onto the bed and curling up cat-like on her side. 'Needsomecompany.' Her words merged together and were cut off by a huge yawn that made Jinn grin. He pulled the thick duvet out from beneath himself and folded it back from his end of the bed to cover Eutopia with it. He shook his head with a smile as he watched the girl burrow deep into the warmth of the covers, barely taking up any space at the foot of his bed as he stretched his legs out around her.

'Do you want to talk about it?' he asked.

'No. I can barely remember it now, just that feeling you sometimes get with dreams, you know? I've always had strange dreams, vivid ones, ever since I can remember, but give it ten minutes and all the detail drains out of them,' she yawned widely again and wriggled about so she could see Jinn at the other end of the bed whilst still remaining tucked in. The huge room was quite cold. She nodded at the book he had picked up again. 'What are you reading?'

'It's an old book, by Thomas More,' Jinn replied, twisting it so she could see the title printed on the front cover.

'Oh,' she said. Jinn studied her for a moment.

'It's called _Utopia_ ,' he offered.

'Oh?' the girl sat up with interest, pushing the duvet back with suddenly bright eyes as she crawled to the head of the bed and settled herself against the pillows beside Jinn, taking the book from his hands to look at its plain black cover. _Utopia_ was printed on the front in elegant silver script. 'But that's my name,' she said, tracing the letters with a finger, 'it's spelt differently though.'

'How do you spell your name?' he asked, curiously watching as she traced out a hesitant capital _E_ before the _U_. The movement was careful and considered, slightly shaky, like a child learning to write. It confirmed Jinn's suspicion that she could not read or write particularly well. He smiled, watching her as she collected the pages in one hand and flicked through them with one thumb, eyes skimming the small print, only to gather them again and do the same as though she were looking for pictures.

'Good place,' he said, softly.

'What?' Eutopia asked, handing the book back to him. Jinn showed her the front cover again.

' _Utopia_ ,' he said, tracing the title as she had, 'it means 'no place' it's a play on words. When the book was first written it was sold as a true tale about a perfect country called Utopia that many people were led to believe was a perfect paradise. It never existed. But your name,' Jinn drew an _E_ at the beginning of the word, 'Eutopia, means 'good place', the 'eu' means good in Greek, you see, whereas the 'ou' sound that the U by itself makes means 'no' in Greek. So when Utopia is spelt like the title of the book it means 'no place' Your name means 'good place.'' His eyes were fixed on her, flickering with a light that Eutopia was too sleepy to catch.

'So Utopia is a country?' she asked, struggling to get her groggy mind around what Jinn was talking about.

'Yes. But not a real one, though Thomas More wrote about it as if he had really travelled there, he described everything; the hierarchy, the politics, the currency, the people and their customs. Many people believed it was actually a real place because he even included co-ordinates and directions on how to find the island again.' Jinn continued enthusiastically, warming to his subject and his seemingly captivated, though mostly still sleepy student.

'Wow,' Eutopia said, reaching down to pull the duvet up over herself again before taking the book from Jinn's hands and opening it at random, her finger idling over the bold letters of the chapter heading. She let out such a soft sigh that Jinn barely heard it.

'What's up?' he asked.

'I wish I could be in another place right now. I'm most definitely in 'no place' at the moment. Have you ever felt like that? Like you wish you could just slip back and be someone else, anyone else? In some other time, maybe?' Eutopia tugged at the pillow behind, wriggling into it to make it more comfortable as she settled back. 'Never mind. Maybe in my next life I'll get a slightly better deal.'

'Do you really believe that?' Jinn asked, 'in reincarnation?'

'My mother was constantly saying that I'm an 'old soul',' Eutopia said with a gentle smile, 'she said from the day I was born that I knew too much about the world. It's in the eyes, apparently. I'm too knowing. I just wish I knew what to do about this whole situation. But yes, I do believe in reincarnation. Life is a form of energy isn't it? And if I remember anything about science from school, it's that energy can never be destroyed. It can only be reformed or reused or whatever. Like water. It only changes form, rising up as condensation to turn back into rain.' She yawned, loudly, closing her eyes. 'Plus, I think as almighty as God is meant to be, I doubt heaven would be big enough for every single person he's ever created from day one. So I think he just rounds us up and sends us out again.'

'That's a very interesting theory,' Jinn murmured.

'Everything happens for a reason,' Eutopia said, mostly to the pillow as she turned into it, 'I just wish I knew what the reason was.' Jinn leant over her as she slipped back to sleep, angling the hood of the bedside lamp down to dim the light in the room. He retrieved the book from Eutopia's hands and continued to read long into the night.

When Eutopia eventually found her way into the kitchen the next day it was to discover Jinn cooking a huge omelette in a heavy iron skillet. She smiled, feeling refreshed after the remainder of her undisturbed sleep and a long soak in the claw-footed bath in her room. She had felt a bit embarrassed at finding herself in Jinn's room that morning but thankfully he had already left before she woke. Eutopia hadn't had the nerve to use his bathroom and so had returned to her own room to get washed and dressed. She wore a clean pair of dark jeans and a hooded blue jumper that bought the sapphire tone out in her eyes. The heavy grey clouds of her window threatened rain again. She pulled her long hair back into a ponytail, securing most of it with a plain band, as Jinn poured out a glass of orange juice for her, setting it on the table as she sat down.

'Morning,' she said.

'Morning,' he replied, back at the stove now as he slid the omelette onto a plate. 'Did you sleep well?'

'Not really. I never really sleep well in places I'm not used to.' Jinn smiled. He placed the plate and a knife and fork in front of her. It wasn't until Eutopia had almost finished her large helping of omelette that she realised Jinn wasn't eating.

'You were ages in the bathroom, I've already eaten,' he said, answering her unasked question as he lent back against the counter top with his arms crossed.

'Sorry. What time is it?'

'Not a problem. You may as well make use of the facilities,' he grinned, 'and it's past ten,' he said, glancing at the expensive looking watch at his wrist. He was wearing clean clothes too, a marl grey jumper over stonewashed jeans and his usual heavy black boots. Eutopia took her plate to the sink and began to wash it beneath a stream of hot water from the tap.

'Thanks, that was delicious.' She smiled at him, 'Are you sure you're not Nigella Lawson's secret love child?' Eutopia asked, thinking that his striking good looks and dark hair would not make him a stranger to the glamorous celebrity chef. 'I've never met a man that could cook before.'

Jinn chuckled.

'I might be, if I knew who she was.'

Eutopia laughed softly too and placed the clean plate on the drying rack, turning to face him.

'So, do we have a plan for today? I was thinking last night, if I can just find Will first, I'll go to the police and tell them everything. But I don't really know where to start.' Eutopia eyed Jinn a little cautiously, unsure of how he would react to the mention of police again.

'If going to the police will make you feel better about it all, then fine. But I agree, you should try and find your brother first.'

'They're bound to catch up with me sooner or later. I just hope it's later. So. I was thinking about what you said, also, whether I had any contacts in London? Well, there was a guy I met when I was on the run. I met him in Basingstoke, but after I got put back into care we kept in contact for a time and the last I heard he was living in Peckham. I have a number for him, but I haven't tried it in years so there's no guarantee I can get hold of him, but it might give us a starting point if it works, right?' her eyes were bright and hopeful.

'Sure, it's an idea, definitely worth a try.' Eutopia pulled the battered grey Nokia from her pocket and Jinn motioned to the door. 'Might be better to sit in the lounge, this kitchen is at the back of the house, I doubt you'll get much reception here.' He led the way back down the hall and into a large living room that was sparsely yet sumptuously decorated. Eutopia sank into one of the two brown leather sofas, much like the ones that had been at Jinn's flat, yet bigger. An oriental rug stretched across the dark stained floorboards and forest green velvet draped the huge almost wall to ceiling windows that looked out over the expanse of the drive, where Eutopia could see the sleek black lines of Jinn's Mercedes settled on the gravel. Green, gilt and subtle marble matched with dark, glossy wood that dominated the room, but not a speck of dust seemed to have settled anywhere. Eutopia silently wondered why Jinn rented his London flat when he seemed to have a perfectly good home here, and how did it stay so clean if he barely lived in it? She hardly gave it another thought though as she flicked through the contacts stored in her phone and then pressed 'call'. The blood pounded in her head with each ring in her ear, disappointment creeping in as the ringer continued.

'We can always try some…' Jinn began, reading the expression on her face, but he fell silent as Eutopia held up one hand and spoke hesitantly into her mobile.

'Hello? Mike?'

'Hey lady, how's it going?' Mike's smooth and easy tone, so familiar and almost unexpected, made Eutopia smile.

'Uh, not so good, Mike,' she said honestly.

'Yeah, I saw you on the TV. Got into a bit of trouble, huh?' Eutopia could imagine his soft grey eyes crinkling with amusement. 'Anything I can help you with?' he asked, seriously.

'I don't think so, not in that respect anyway.'

'I thought you'd say that. What can I do for you? It's been a while. Going on for two years in fact.' Eutopia winced at the hint of pain in his voice. Mike had been so doped up when she'd last seen him she had hardly thought he would realise how long it had been since they had last spoken.

'I'm sorry, Mike. I'm hopeless at keeping in touch; you should know that by now. I did mean to ring you sooner; I guess life just got in the way.'

'Yeah, it does that sometimes.'

'Last time I spoke to Kayla she said you'd moved to Peckham?'

'Oh, Kayla, Kayla,' Mike sighed down the phone and Eutopia could imagine his long rust-coloured dreadlocks swaying as he shook his head, if he still had them by now. 'Haven't spoken to her in ages either. But yes, she was right, I did move to Peckham. My dad died a few years back, so moved back in with me old mam. Best move really, for both of us. S'kept me clean for the past two years.'

'Oh, Mike. I'm sorry to hear about your dad. But wow, it's great you've been clean so long! I always told you that stuff was no good.'

'Yeah, just wish I'd listened sooner. Never mind though, eh?' Eutopia thought momentarily of Kayla again, the curvy, confident redhead who had been the best thing that had happened to Mike in a long time. She'd finally left him when his drug debt had gotten too much for either one of them to manage. Older than Eutopia by at least five years, Kayla had looked after her like an older sister, when she could; though her and Mike's lifestyle had been too transient for either of them to help her in any real way. The thoughtful silence at the other end of the phone led Eutopia to believe that Mike was also thinking of Kayla again.

'I still have her number, I'm sure it's the right one,' she offered, gently.

'Nah, lady. But thanks. What is it I can do you for, anyway?'

'Well, do you remember me telling you about my brother?'

'Will? How could I forget! So you've done it? You worked your little behind off and saved all that money you always said you would, huh? So you're in London?'

'Sort of. I've been to London already,'

'Ah, yes,' Mike said, meaningfully.

'But it's not what you think, Mike, really it's not,'

'Things aren't always as they seem. I remember you saying that a lot. I believe ya. But I don't get where you need my help?'

'I can't come back to London just yet. I need to find Will first,'

'He isn't in London anymore?'

'He is, well, I think he is. But because of… what's happened, I need to keep my distance until I find him. Once I've got Will back, I'll explain everything. I was hoping that because you're in London you could make a few enquiries for me. You probably don't move in that kind of circle anymore, but you might still have contacts?'

'For you, lady, anything.' His upbeat tone made Eutopia smile again. The thick, sluggish slur of his speech was gone, no doubt kicked with his weed and who knew what else habit. He sounded much healthier. 'Obviously I can't guarantee anything, but I'll keep an ear out and see what I can scout. Will Midnite, right?'

'Right. Unless he's going by another name now.'

'Sure. It was great to hear from you, lady. I've often wondered how you were getting on.'

'Thanks, Mike. It was good to speak to you too. I'm sorry I left it so long.

'It's cool. This the best number for ya? I'll see what I can find out, if anything, and get back to you asap.' Mike was the only one Eutopia knew that could make that abbreviation sound like an actual word without it sounding cheesey. 'Take care, lady, speak soon.'

'You too, Mike, bye.' Eutopia was grinning at Jinn as she pressed 'end' but her joy was cut short as she noticed the expression on Jinn's face. He was perched on the high arm of the sofa next to her, his arm resting on one drawn up knee with a remote control in his hand as he stared towards the far right corner of the room, where a forty-two inch plasma TV sat on a mahogany stand and managed to look small in the vast room and yet somehow in keeping with the country-chic décor. Jinn had found the news channel again which was now playing a grey-green video clip of a tall dark figure throwing a grey haired man over the bonnet of his shiny Saab.

'Police are now searching for two suspects they believe may be linked to the earlier murders of two men in the Covent Garden area of London on Friday 12th August. The bodies were discovered in the early hours of Saturday morning. DNA evidence was obtained from one of the bodies at the scene that links the female seen here in this CCTV footage, taken at Heston Services on the M4 at about 11.35pm on Saturday, to the crime. Police have reason to believe that the man also caught on camera may be involved in the murder and are appealing for any further witnesses of this violent incident caught on the service station CCTV, to come forward,' the male newscaster was announcing gravely, his slick brown hair gleaming in competition with his perma-tan beneath the studio lights as the camera shot flipped from the grainy images of Jinn pinning down the bewildered man and Eutopia, so small and insignificant next to his bulky frame, desperately trying to tug him away, to a close up of the newscaster's serious face. 'The female has been identified by police as Eutopia Midnite, a twenty year old, originally from Hook in Hampshire.' The screen was filled with a close up of Eutopia's face taken from the CCTV. Gone were the hesitant pencil lines of the e-fit, now the eerie image of the service stations night-vision filter was unmistakeable. The picture shrank to take up only half of the screen as Jinn's face appeared to fill the gap beside her, his beautiful features were twisted and frozen in a snarl as the soothing voice of the newscaster said, 'The male suspect, seen here on the right, is as yet unidentified, but is thought to be in his late twenties, Caucasian in appearance and stands at about six foot seven inches tall. Police wish to question him with regards to the assault seen here at Heston services, for what was described by eyewitnesses as an unprovoked attack, as well as the double murder in London. Police are advising that members of the public do not approach either of the suspects, but to dial 999 should you come across them. Now, in other news, a swan was caught causing havoc in a rural village in…' Eutopia tuned out, her frightened eyes wide and glazed as she turned from the TV to Jinn.

'That's what Mike meant when he said he'd seen me on TV…'

'Will he call the police?'

'No, I don't think so. Besides, I never said where I was. But they have CCTV… that guy at the garage… won't they be able to trace your car?' her thoughts were sent reeling as she tried to piece together the fragments of the mess she had somehow landed herself in.

'Possibly. I don't think the police will have much luck though. The car is registered to the flat in Kensington. They won't get far with that lead.' Jinn smiled a small smile, seeming unfazed by it all.

'How can you be so calm?' Eutopia demanded, standing up as she ran a hand through her hair, causing tendrils to tumble from the band she had used to keep it up in a ponytail.

'Getting worked up about everything isn't going to help. It won't change what's happened or what's going to come. Plus, if we're to find your brother and sort this all out, keeping a level head is the way to go,' he said, standing too, his towering frame keeping Eutopia from pacing as he blocked her path and held her frantic eyes with his own cool indigo ones. 'There isn't anything we can do now, but wait for Mike to come back to you. If you've got no other point to start from then keeping calm and waiting for a lead is the best thing to do.' Eutopia sighed, heavily, and sank into the creaking leather of the sofa, folding her arms with a slight pout.

'I guess you're right.'

Jinn flicked the TV off with the remote, cutting off the images of a huge white swan shot with a home video camera, judging by the shaky quality, as it pulled a bed sheet off a clothesline in someone's garden.

'I usually am,' he said, with another little smile.

'Irritating, too,' Eutopia added, giving him a narrowed glance.

'On occasion that has been said, yes.' He sat on the sofa beside her, his back against the corner as his body angled towards the girl, totally at ease.

'So… now we wait?' she asked, turning to look at him fully now. Jinn nodded in confirmation.

'Now we wait.'

Eutopia huffed.

'I hate waiting.'


	9. Chapter 9

Monday morning rolled in faster than Rose had hoped it would. Sunday had been his allocated rest day, but he had kept in contact with the officers from Guildford that had been tasked with speaking to the girl's foster parents. So now, eight AM found Rose slouched in his desk chair pouring over the notes that had been hurriedly typed over night for him. Not that he had discovered much more from the paperwork than he had from speaking with PC Manders on the phone the night before.

'Do we have anything new?' DI Mason's sudden question sent Rose slopping scalding tea over his hand as he jumped, looking up from the notes in front of him. He cursed, wiping his hand on his trousers.

'Sorry, Guv'ner, didn't see you there. Wasn't expecting to see you 'til later.'

'Thought I'd make an early start this morning,' Mason said with a smile, hitching up his pristine trousers before taking a seat opposite Rose in the hard-backed blue plastic chair. The office that Paul Rose shared with three other Detective Sergeants was empty save for the two men. 'What did the Guildford station manage to glean for us?' he asked, eagerly, resting his smooth hands with perfectly short, clean nails on the desk-top as he leant forwards.

'Well Trev Manders and a female PC, uh, Ellen Martin, I think,' Rose checked the notes in front of him, 'made a visit to the foster parents. Pretty much like I thought. Haven't heard a peep from her. They fostered the girl, this Eutopia, in early '97, when she was six. The girl's mother died, cervical cancer, father absent from day one, so they took her in. She had a brother, William, but he was placed into a kids' home in Croydon because the family only wanted a girl.' Rose raised his heavy grey eyebrows meaningfully as he looked up at Mason. 'Anyway,' he continued when the Inspector failed to react, 'For two years this family, Mr and Mrs Scott, fitted in with plans from social services to keep the contact flowing between the two, but they put their foot down when the boy fell in with some oiks in Croydon.'

'The usual?' the Inspector asked, pushing the wire frames of his glasses further up his snub nose as he peered over at the notes that Rose was shielding with his meaty forearm, like a schoolboy afraid of having his homework copied.

'Pretty much, Guv. Underage drinking, smoking weed, a few petty thefts from local shops. Nothing major, just teenage hijinks.' Inspector Mason raised his pencil thin eyebrows, his tone cutting as his hazel eyes fixed on Rose's.

'I don't know what you did for 'hijinks' as a teenager, Sergeant Rose, but petty crime was not on my list of fun,'

'No, Guv,' Rose said, doubting that the Inspector had 'fun' in any shape or form. He puffed, bristling the wiry grey moustache under his nose as he looked back at the typed sheet, running a fat finger down the margin to find his place. 'So, the Scott's have no trouble from the girl, they keep her separate from her brother until boom, he pitches up at her window one night, when the girl's about ten or eleven, encourages her to run away to London with him. After that they say they had no end of trouble with her.'

'Did they have a good relationship with her?' Mason asked, curiously.

'From what Manders could pick up from the foster mother, yes, mostly for the first two years or so. The relationship dissolved a little bit, just before the girl's brother turned up that night. The kids were picked up at Waterloo station after the foster father had reported the girl missing in the middle of the night and one of the station guards was alerted to them jumping a barrier or something. The call came through just as the police based at the train station were trying to get to the bottom of why two kids were out and about so late by themselves. Social services put the girl back with the Scott family but after that she just kept running away, following in big brother's footsteps.' Mason nodded, recalling the long list of charges against the skinny thirteen year old with the haunted eyes.

'But they don't keep in contact with her now?'

'No. Social services tried placing her there at various times throughout the years, thinking the familiar setting might set her straight, but seems she had other ideas. Social workers apparently tried other families too, when they could find one to have her, but it didn't help. That little bird just wanted to fly. Neither of the Scott's have heard a peep from her in the last seven years or so.' Mason nodded as he listened, leaning back against the creaking plastic chair as he placed his fingertips to his lips.

'Are they still fostering now?' he asked.

'Are they hell, Guv,' Rose said, his doughy features suddenly animated despite the uncharacteristic early start. 'They took a few more kids in after this chicken,' he motioned to the thin file marked 'Midnite, Eutopia' that was beginning to grow on his desk, 'but in 2006 there was an investigation by Social Services into the foster father, Andrew Scott, after one of the social workers raised concerns about suspected sexual abuse.' Rose eased his rotund frame back into his desk chair, the pale cotton of his shirt stretched so tight across his belly that Mason feared for one of his buttons. 'No formal complaint was ever made to the police, but Social Services blacklisted the family it seems. They weren't eligible to foster from that point on.' Rose waggled his eyebrows, his beady eyes bloodshot but bright.

'You think that lends substance to your theory, don't you Sergeant?' Mason asked.

'It's just one brick in the foundation of this girl's motive, Guv. Messy childhood leads to messy adulthood. Abuse in her earlier years could send a chick over the edge when presented with a similar situation in later life. Post-traumatic stress or whatever.'

'I disagree completely. Nevertheless, what have you got on the new CCTV?'

'From the service station, Guv? Not a great deal, actually.' Rose slid five A4 sized photos from beneath the plain brown cover of the file. He lay the stills out in order in front of Mason, the eerie green glow of the images showed two cars, one parked behind the other at the pumps. The car to the most left side of the picture, closer to the camera, was a dark Mercedes that Mason couldn't recognise, the other a fairly recent Saab. The second shot showed the driver of the Saab, a heavy set and balding man in his late 40's standing beside it, one arm hooked up to rest on the roof of his car as he climbed from the driver's seat, the Mercedes driver's door was caught half open. Then the startling face of the Mercedes driver filled half the screen as the man crossed close to the camera and was perpetually frozen in the act of scowling darkly at the driver behind. The man's features were partially obscured by the crazy shadows cast onto the forecourt by the broken service station striplights, but even Mason could read the heavy intent etched into the otherwise handsome face. The fourth photograph captured the fear in the Saab owner's eyes as he was pinned to his bonnet by the throat, the imposing giant of a man leaning over him. A dark flurry at the bottom left of the picture evolved into a dark haired girl in photograph number five, at the man's side now with both her hands clasped around his meaty forearm, her lithe frame straining backwards in an obvious attempt to pull him away.

'That's definitely our chicken,' Rose said, needlessly pointing her out in the last photograph.

'Eutopia Midnite. But who is this?' Mason asked, running a slender finger down the figure of the man she was with. 'Do we have an ID on the man he was trying to strangle?'

'Not yet, Guv, was going to run the number plate through DVLA later today. I did watch the CCTV though. I'm no good at lip-reading, but there doesn't seem to be a great amount said between the two men. It does seem to be an unprovoked attack at this point. This bloke didn't even bother reporting it; it was the service station lackey that rang it through after recognising the girl from an earlier news report. Guess that e-fit artist worked out alright after all, he actually got quite a good match.' Rose pulled another picture from the file and laid it side by side with the last photo to compare the faces.

'What about this car?' Mason asked, his finger drifting across the shiny surface of the photograph to rest on the dark Mercedes. Rose let out a low whistle from between his teeth.

'Pricey little beauty, that one. Mercedes SL65 AMG, nought to sixty in four point two seconds. Set you back around a hundred and forty six grand. Wouldn't mind one of those myself, actually.'

'Thank you, Sergeant, I wasn't planning on purchasing one. Have you run the number plate yet?' Mason asked, scathingly.

'Course, Guv. Thought I might like to get a side line in on whatever that bloke does for a living if he can afford one of those,' Rose grunted, thinking of his battered green Rover 25 that sat in the car park.

'And?' Mason asked, habitually pushing the thin frame of his glasses further up his nose with an elegant finger, a gesture of impatience that Rose had come to recognise.

'Not much joy actually. The car is registered to an address in Kensington, Queens Gate Terrace. Nice place. Bit too pricey for me on my pittance. But both the car and the address, a rented flat, actually, were registered in the same name to a bloke called Alexis Caelum. Can't find him on PNC or any other database, so he's either clean or using an alias.' Rose leant forward in a conspiring manner as they both looked down at the CCTV still that showed the snarling yet strangely alluring face of the allusive male. 'Not bad for an hours work though, eh, Guv?' Rose asked with a lewd wink at the Inspector.

'There's more of the day left yet, Sergeant.'

Later that afternoon, Inspector Mason's bespectacled face appeared from around the edge of his office door as Rose strolled unhurriedly past.

'Sergeant Rose, might I have a word?'

''Course, Guv. I was just on my way to make a cuppa, though. Fancy a brew?' Rose asked, waving a chipped Liverpool FC mug at the Inspector. 'White with one, isn't it?'

'Uh, yes, please,' Mason agreed, making no mention of the fact he knew it was the Sergeants fourth cup of tea in the space of the last hour and a half. He didn't mind if it meant productivity was increased that afternoon, though he did make a mental note to speak to the Detective Chief Inspector about introducing a tea fund. Mason had a feeling that if the officers were encouraged to pay per cup they might be less quick to hover in the tea room. He settled himself behind his desk, smoothing down the lilac shirt and deep purple tie he was wearing, straightening his glasses as Rose reappeared shortly afterwards with his well-used Liverpool mug in one hand a plain brown mug in the other that looked like a china throwback from the 1960's, usually reserved for visitors. Rose nodded at the mug as he sat down and took a slug of tea.

'Sorry, Guv, couldn't find your mug,' he apologised.

'That's fine, don't worry. I wanted you to read the post mortem report on our two men from the Short Street case.' Mason slid a file across the desk to Rose before picking up his tea and taking a sip of the steaming brew, watching as the other man picked up the report and began to read in laborious silence.

By the time the Sergeant had finished reading Mason had finished tea. Rose sat back in his chair, resting the open file on his knee as he crossed one leg over the other.

'Well?' Mason asked, expectantly. 'What do you think?'

'I think it's a load of shit, if you ask me, Guv. Pardon my French. The knife wound to Ash's throat, how can they be so sure it was that particular blade that caused it?' Rose flicked through the pages of the report to take another look at the glossy photograph pinned to the back of the file.

'Carbon dating from trace evidence found in the neck wound. Didn't you read page four?'

'I skimmed it, Guv. Techie points like that don't interest me.' Mason pressed his thin lips together in irritancy.

'This knife was reported stolen from the Roman exhibition at the Natural History Museum sometime in July 2000, but it dates back to sometime in 300 AD.'

'Ooh, rusty. So we're looking for a murderer with a penchant for ancient Rome?' Rose asked.

'Not exactly. We don't know for sure that whoever stole this knife killed these men.'

'Was anything else taken with the knife, Guv? I don't remember hearing anything about this, would have thought the National History Museum would be a pretty big job.'

'Only a gold bracelet from around the same period. It wasn't a big job at all; mostly an open shut case because there was no sign of any break in and apart from those two artefacts nothing else was disturbed or reported missing. From the old statements taken at that time the Curator believed it to be an inside job and wrote the items off for insurance purposes.'

'This case just seems to get weirder,' Rose muttered. 'So, what I do gather from this report is that Ash had his throat cut and bled to death with this knife and the other one, Davey, died from impact related injuries? Though there was no sign that his car had moved from the spot it was found at, with the engine still on. There were no tyre marks to suggest the vehicle had to brake suddenly so therefore no reason as to how his injuries occurred?' A deep frown crinkled Rose's lined forehead as he looked at his senior for clarification.

'That's right. If you had read page five, however, you'd notice the coroner mentioned suspicious and extensive bruising to Davey's back which occurred before his death, like he'd been pushed by something, though the coroner specifically points out the bruises do not equate to those caused by another vehicle.' Rose whistled low through his yellowed teeth as he flicked to page five and glanced over the included photograph of the dead man again.

'Must have hit him with the force of a steam train to get those bruises.' Mason nodded. 'Our chick couldn't have done that, not unless she had sledgehammers for hands. Now him, on the other hand,' Rose pointed at the CCTV stills that were pinned to the incident board behind Mason's desk, his stubby finger singling out the snarling man at the service station. 'He looks like a bruiser.'

'What I could gather from that information, Sergeant, is that Ash's throat wound was caused by a right handed person of about six foot six to six foot seven inches in height who was stood in front of our victim at the time, merely inches away from him, given the trajectory. Also, it wasn't instantly fatal, in that it missed the jugular.'

'An accident?' Rose asked, flicking back to the beginning of the report, wondering how he had managed to miss that point, 'So we're dealing with an amateur.' Mason's good breeding caused him to mask his sigh of exasperation by clearing his throat.

'Do you solve many crimes by jumping to conclusions, Sergeant Rose?'

Rose turned crimson and bristled his moustache, which was vying for space on his face with the greying stubble beginning to grizzle his cheeks and chin. 'It could have been a deliberate action. It would have taken the man longer to die that way. Perhaps there was something the murderer wanted him to see before he died? Perhaps he just wanted the satisfaction of seeing him suffer.' Mason pondered out loud, pretending not to notice his Sergeant's red cheeks. Paul Rose might be a blundering buffoon in some respects, but Mason knew he was committed to the job and his old school policing generally did bring in results, no matter how many people he upset along the way.

'How are your leads coming along, Rose?'

'No joy, Guv, as of yet. We had a few uh, ladies, down in custody earlier, mostly from being picked up last night. All of them are old to the scene and not one recognised this Ash bloke as a pimp, so trying to find some other starting point.' Mason nodded as Rose heaved his bulk from the chair and crossed the room.

'Keep on it, Rose, you're doing a good job. And, uh,' he called as Rose was half out the door already, tapping the now empty brown mug on the desk, 'Lovely tea. Thanks.'


	10. Chapter 10

The first bright rays of the dawn brushed Eirene's tawny skin as she slipped over the wall leading into the vineyard. Her bare feet thumped softly on the tilled earth as she skipped between the twisting vines and raced the sunlight to the small window of the room she shared with Aisha. Panting and flushed from running, her eyes shining and alive, Eirene stretched up on her tiptoes to hook her fingers over the ledge of the opening that was almost out of her reach, one foot braced against the smooth stone of the villa wall as she prepared to hoist herself up. A sudden flurry of movement, dust against dust, caught her eye and made her pause. At the base of the old olive tree that stood guard over that corner of the villa, beneath the scrubby branches of a bush lay a little bird. Its small feathers were the same dusty brown as the earth beneath it and it squirmed, wings outspread as it tried to stand. The girl came to kneel beside it, parting the low scrub with one hand as she scooped the other beneath the tiny bird, causing it to flap in fright.

'Hush, little one, I won't hurt you,' Eirene muttered gently, carefully folding her hand around the delicate body to keep it still. She could feel the thundering, fluttering beat of the bird's frightened heart in the very tips of her fingers. 'What's the matter, can you not fly?' All thoughts of getting back to her bed before it was noticed that she was missing again had flown from her mind now, her curiosity captured completely by this weak little creature. Kneeling on the hard baked earth that hadn't seen rain for weeks, Eirene forgot everything else but the little pulsing life in her hands. 'Did you forget you had wings and fall from your tree?' she asked, peering at the black glassy eye that regarded her with just as much interest. 'I sleep walk sometimes too,' she confided to the bird in a whisper as she uncurled her small fist, letting it settle on the palm of her hand where it barely stretched from the heel to her fingertips. Its wings lay still, its beak parted slightly as it panted. Eirene could feel the tiny beat of its heart steadying against her skin as it calmed. 'Let's have a look at you then,' she said, gently stretching out one of the birds brown wings with her other hand to examine the feathers. The bird gave out the tiniest peep of discontentment but showed no sign of distress so Eirene let the wing settle again before stretching out the second one. 'Hm. Well, your wings seem ok, so why can't you fly?'

'Eirene, is that you?' a cautious whisper hissed down from the window above, Aisha's eyes, as black as the little bird's in Eirene's hand, peering from the darkness within.

'Yes,'

'What are you doing out there? Who are you talking to?'

'I've found a bird, I think it's injured.'

'What?'

'Never mind, I'm coming in, move back from the casement.' Eirene quickly tucked the little brown bird into the neck of her loose toga, feeling it settling its insignificant warmth against her smooth skin beneath the strip of cloth that bound her breasts beneath. She glanced up at the window where a gauzy curtain fell, covering the space where Aisha had just been and then reached up to grasp the ledge, half pulling herself up and half jumping into the room beyond.

Aisha stood in between the two low mattresses stuffed with straw and covered with plain woollen blankets. Phoibe, being significantly older than the two girls, had her own room in the _cubiculum_ beside their own. Aisha's bed was rumpled from her sleep. Eirene's bed on the other side of the room was perfectly made, un-slept in. Aisha sighed and shook her head, causing the blue turban she always wore to wobble precariously on top of her head. She reached out a smooth black hand to pluck at the vine leaves tangled in Eirene's loose, dishevelled hair.

'Eirene, you're impossible. Why do you keep running away? Do you know if you're caught they'll brand an _f_ on your forehead?' Aisha said, jabbing the space between Eirene's eyebrows with a long, bony finger, a little harder than was really necessary.

'How can I be classed as a _fugitivus_ if I keep coming back, Aisha?' she demanded.

'Yes,' Aisha agreed in puzzlement, 'why do you keep doing that? If I made it out I certainly wouldn't come back.' They looked at each other for a long moment. Both girls knew that Aisha would never run. As much as she missed the hot barren land of her home, their life in Rome was extremely pleasant, luxurious even, compared to most. Aisha had once confided in Eirene that she believed her family, her mother, father, three sisters and one younger brother to be dead. Either through famine or the slave trade, she had said one night with a shrug. Neither was any better than the other. Like Eirene, she had nowhere else to go. Unlike Eirene, she held a soft spot for their imperious, strikingly beautiful mistress. Often it would seem the feeling was mutual, as like this morning, Aisha would be summoned to Liviana's room at the break of dawn to spend a long time twisting, curling and braiding the mistress' sunny locks into elaborate styles.

'I don't know what will become of you, Eirene, I really don't.' Aisha said, finally breaking the thoughtful silence that had settled upon them both. She turned to swiftly tug her blanket over her mattress and smoothed it into a more presentable state. Not that it really mattered; it was only ever poor old Phoibe who ventured into their room for spot inspections every so often.

'Once I've found Germanus we'll be leaving Rome for good. Find a little farm somewhere in the country, take you with us too if you ask nicely,' Eirene smiled as Aisha sighed again with the patience of an indulgent mother listening to a daydreaming child. She'd heard the line too many times before.

'I'll be going out with Mistress once she's dressed, Master has commissioned another piece of jewellery for her and she wants my advice on whether it matches the yellow linen he bought last week. ' Eirene rolled her blue eyes and laughed humourlessly.

'That woman is vainer than Venus!'

'If you were the human embodiment of Venus, wouldn't you be just a little bit vain?' Aisha asked. Eirene ran her hands down the length of her body, which was not at all unpleasing beneath the draping folds of her once white toga. 'Perhaps,' she grinned, 'I'll probably see you at dinner, Aisha.'

'Maybe. Phoibe will be coming with us I think, so you'll have to take care of everything yourself. Will you be ok?' Aisha eyed Eirene carefully from the doorway, pausing in the act of lifting the curtain. 'You haven't been up all night have you? You do look a little tired,' Eirene smiled, waving off the other girls concern.

'I'll be fine.' Eirene sat down on her bed as Aisha left. The clear early morning light lit up the small room now, filtered by the filmy curtain at the window and warming the walls. She carefully hooked the little bird out from its spot in her toga to lay it on her blanket, watching as its closed eyes fluttered open for a moment. Brown feathers were ruffled, indignant at being disturbed and Eirene suddenly noticed how awkwardly the bird sat, one scrawny twig like leg stuck out from beneath the tiny body at an angle.

'Ah! Is this the problem?' she asked softly, wincing as the bird gave a pitiful cry as she touched the broken leg. Eirene lifted the bird in both of her hands, raising it to her eye line to catch the flicker of life in the bead of its eye. 'Don't worry, little bird, I'll get you better. You'll be flying out of that window in no time. Just like me,' she smiled, nuzzling the round feathered head with the tip of her index finger.

'You'll probably find it will die soon. Most injured birds do. It's the shock that gets them,' the smooth, masculine voice cut right across the room and caused Eirene to gasp and jump to her feet as the small feathered mass, clasped in her hand, trilled in pain at her sudden movement.

'Master!'

'Eirene,' Alexis walked further into the room, taking up most of the space with his frame. He wore his usual uniform colours of clean white layered with dark red, his black hair cropped as close as fashion dictated which highlighted the chiselled plains of his strong features. Eirene had not seen him for three days, not since he had saved her from further humiliation at the hands of his sister. Her back still twinged, despite the many poultices and lotions Phoibe had applied. 'May I see it?' he asked, holding one hand out to her. Eirene placed the fragile creature onto his outstretched palm without hesitation as she looked up at Alexis, trying to catch his dark eyes.

'I think his leg is broken. This one, see?' Eirene pointed out the birds left leg as it lay on his hand, looking even more insubstantial amidst the sea of his palm.

'How do you know it's a he?' Alexis asked in surprise, raising one eyebrow, though he kept his eyes on the bird that lay limp on his hand.

'He looks too sorry for himself to be female,' she smiled very slightly. Alexis nodded and turned away from her. 'Where are you going?' Eirene called as a few long strides carried him away through the curtain of her doorway. 'Master, wait.'

Alexis said nothing and did not slow down as Eirene followed him along the hallway that led from the back of the villa towards the atrium.

'What are you going to do?' Eirene hurried quickly along beside him, her small feet pattering noiselessly against the cool mosaic floors as his heavy sandals rang with each step he took. Alexis remained silent as they walked briskly past other empty rooms and parted the curtain at the doorway of his study. A large beautifully carved desk stood in the middle of the room, covered by rolls of scrolls scrawled with Latin and Greek and littered with other scholarly debris. It was on this desk that Alexis lay the trembling little bird.

'It's a nightingale,' he said, examining the plain brown feathers. 'Have you ever heard one sing?'

'Yes,' Eirene said, looking at the plain, unremarkable bird in awe. 'They sing beautifully.'

'They sing for love. You wouldn't think from its dull feathers that it could be such a magnificent musician,' Alexis agreed, lifting the lid of a long marble box inlaid with gold that rested on his desk. 'Leave me, Eirene,' he commanded. 'Mistress Liviana will be out all day with Phoibe and Aisha, as I'm sure you are aware of. You won't be required for anything today, so may I suggest you get some sleep? No doubt your excursion into town last night and your romp through the vineyard this morning was exhausting. Though perhaps you might wish to take a bath first?' Eirene thought she caught the hint of a smile on his lips as she remained where she stood. Alexis glanced up from the box he was still rifling through, a stream of sunlight from the window behind him emphasised the black of his eyes and his hair, the smooth whiteness of his skin. 'Eirene? I said go.'

'What will you do with the bird, Master?' she asked, her eyes large with concern and yet full of trust as she looked up at him. The nightingale had tucked its wings up around itself, its little beak nestled in the tiny brown feathers. Alexis pulled a slim dagger from the box and lay it on the desk. Golden winged horses danced on either side of the sheathed blade, rearing on their back legs as the finely wrought feathers curved up to form part of the hilt; a clear, cold diamond was set into the pommel and caught Eirene's eye. She crossed the room in a few short strides and swept the bird up in her hand once more.

'No,' she said in alarm, pressing the tiny thing to her breast. 'You can't kill him because he has a broken leg. That's barbaric!'

'Ending its pain and suffering is barbaric?' Alexis asked, genuinely surprised at the girl's reaction.

'The leg will heal. Bones heal, I know they can.' Eirene lifted the nightingale to her cheek, hearing the frightened little cheep the bird made, feeling his heart fluttering in her hand as if she were holding her own between her fingertips.

'And if it doesn't? What if it dies before it has a chance to heal? You will have extended its suffering for nothing, for the sake of your own self-righteousness.'

'You're the self-righteous one, Master,' Eirene muttered venomously, 'collecting slaves to educate them for no other reason than to prove your superiority as a scholar in a strange land. I know you aren't from Rome, despite your flawless pronunciation of our language. You and your narcissistic sister, who flaunts the _stola_ of a married woman despite there being no husband to speak of.' Eirene's cheeks flushed crimson as she ranted, the loose tongue that so distressed Phoibe spoke almost of its own accord. The girl could feel the thud of her galloping pulse as Alexis' set his strong jaw.

'You're remarkably perceptive for a slave. Go. Bathe, Eirene. But leave the bird with me.' His tone was brusque and almost terrifying in its coldness, his wide shoulders solid as he rested both his palms on the desk in front of him. Eirene narrowed her eyes, sapphire in colour as a sudden sunbeam struck a hard light in them, tossing her head in a gesture that made her dark hair ripple over her shoulders left bare by the stained and dusty toga she wore.

'No!' she turned and fled before Alexis could blink. Eirene had lived in the villa long enough now to have memorised every elaborately mosaicked walkway, she knew there was no fast and easy route to her room. The curtained doorway would offer no protection from the man following close behind anyway. But she felt she owed it to the nightingale to try. That little bird represented so much to her, its fragility, the inner beauty of its song hidden beneath the dull facade and its frail wings. Most of all its wings. Eirene knew by sheer circumstance of her situation she would never be able to fly away but that would never stop her trying, or dreaming at least. Before she had even made it to the end of the corridor Alexis had spun her on her heel and pressed her against the wall with one hand at her shoulder, gently, despite the anger flashing in his black eyes. The nightingale, its head tucked safe beneath its wing again as though it could not bear to witness any more, was clutched safely in Eirene's hand.

'Give me the bird.' Each word was spoken with soft deliberation. They both knew Alexis could take the little creature from the equally small girl that remained still beneath his hand that seemed to burn against her hot skin, holding her against the cool marble.

'Why? So you can sacrifice it to your strange god? I've heard those prayers you say and I know the things that the mistress tells Phoibe. You both make me sick, twisting an old lady's mind like that!' A dark frown creased his usually smooth brow as he reached out to catch Eirene's wrist in his hand, steadying it as she held the bird carefully. He tugged her forwards and ducked as he slung her slight frame over his heavy shoulder in one fluid movement.

'Put me down!' she cried in fright, extending her legs to beat her bare feet pointlessly against his chest.

'No,' Alexis growled, stalking purposefully through to the atrium, around the fountain and out to the most north-western corner of the villa where Eirene knew the private bathhouse was. She had never lived anywhere that had boasted its own bathhouse before, the old scholar had preferred, as most did, to visit the public baths. Once, at Phoibe's insistence, she had made a brief visit to the strange rooms that varied in temperature and were fed with hot water that bubbled up from beneath the villa. Eirene had found it an exact replica of the most frequented baths in the town, right down to the sky-blue, gold-starred domes in the ceiling and the woodland mural painted on the walls, but on a much smaller scale. Alexis strode right through the cold, warm and hot room without bothering to remove his sandals or his clothes. There was a brief moment when he stood Eirene on her feet, gently prising the bird from her hand before he lifted her with one arm and dumped her into the water with an unceremonious splash. He waited for her to rise from the surface, dripping and spluttering, her delicate features twisted with anger and her toga clinging to every curve of her lithe frame. Alexis pretended not to see that the thin white fabric had become transparent in the water to reveal everything that lay beneath, even under the band of fabric that wound around her breasts. His own beautiful face reflected her fury, his narrowed eyes dancing with rage at her outburst. He cupped the bird in one huge hand. Dripping and wet as she was, the defiance that danced in her dark eyes had not been quelled. She met his intense gaze steadily, though she trembled with fear at her open display of disobedience.

'Wash,' he barked, and for a moment Eirene thought he would watch, but he turned sharply and left her alone in the steaming water.

When she returned to her room sometime later dressed in a fresh toga, the light scent of perfume clinging to her clean hair and skin, it was to find Alexis standing in the centre taking up most of the space. A small ornate cage made with lace-like golden bars sat on her bed. Eirene lowered her eyes swiftly, her cheeks burning brightly as she felt Alexis' eyes settle on the small bruise beginning to form on the creamy skin of her bare shoulder where he had held her earlier. She thought she saw a little spark of sorrow in his face.

' _Dominus,_ ' she acknowledged. His gentle fingers slid beneath the point of her chin to tilt her head up so he could meet her dark eyes, fingertips brushing the silver circlet at her throat as he then lowered his hand. 'I beg forgiveness for my insolence.'

'Come, come, Eirene, we both know you don't mean that,' Alexis said, his tone stilted though his lips lifted slightly in what she believed to be amusement. 'Why does it mean so much to you, Eirene, the nightingale?' Alexis asked.

'Because he is a living, breathing creature. He has hopes and fears and dreams. That little bird is another person, except he has feathers. You don't have the right to take his life because you judge it best, no one does,' she said with a passion that coloured her gentle voice and caused her cheeks to flush hotly.

'You envy it, don't you?' he asked softly, moving his head to the left to catch her wandering eye as she glanced over at the cage. 'Its wings.'

'Yes,' the girl admitted, her fierce eyes focusing on the floor again and refusing to meet his curious look.

'You want wings, but you don't know how to use them.' He watched in fascination as a lone tear left a sparkling silvered trail down her soft cheek. Eirene shook her head helplessly at his words, frustrated at crying in front of him again.

'I'm not sure I would want to use them, Master, even if I did know how.' Her words were barely a whisper, but Alexis heard them perfectly as his hesitant hand caressed her dark head, lightly.

'You may keep the bird, Eirene' Eirene looked at the pretty cage on her bed to find the nightingale nestled safe in the straw at the bottom and her heart leapt suddenly with a joy that Alexis could see on the girl's face. 'We will forget this ever happened. I was expecting you to come to me this evening after dinner for some more studying. I have been extremely impressed with the determination and the passion you have applied to your reading lately,' he smiled, having noticed a number of his scrolls had disappeared of late from the organised mess that littered the shelves and his desk in the study. Alexis had also caught sight of Eirene hunched studiously over parchment and papyrus when she should have been setting the table for dinner or spreading out the clean linen to dry in the hot sun. He never had the heart to admonish her, or to see her reprimanded for trying to better herself and so had redirected anyone that may have come across her as her fingers skimmed over the scrawled writing and she mouthed the words silently to herself. 'But perhaps you should get some sleep instead.'

'No!' she said quickly, her eyes darting to the yellow edge of a papyrus sheaf poking out from between the straw mattress of her bed and the floor. 'I have been practicing a lot by myself. I was hoping I could show you what I have learned, Master, since our last lesson.'

'You don't think my teaching you will only serve to boost my feelings of superiority?' Alexis asked in mock surprise, which caused Eirene to chew her lower lip and shuffle her bare feet uncomfortably.

'I shouldn't have said that. I apologise. I do appreciate what you are doing for me and it is utterly unforgivable of me to have implied otherwise. Sometimes my tongue gets the better of my sensibility.' Alexis fought as hard as he could to keep the grin of amusement from his face.

'Very well. Bring all of the material you have been studying and meet me in the pergola. I will return to my study first to collect some ink and a pen. I think you should learn the finer points of writing, as punishment for your outburst and for stealing from me,' Alexis said, his eyes cast down for a moment to light on the flattened scroll that was trying to escape from beneath Eirene's bed, the smile on his face was wicked as he caught sight of the delight that danced in her eyes as he turned and walked from the room.


	11. Chapter 11

It was the sudden lapse in bird song that made Eutopia look up from the TV she had been staring at blankly. She had been channel hopping and at some point settled on a travel programme where a leggy blond was singing the praises of a number of Los Angeles beaches as she pranced about in a white bikini. Eutopia had turned the sound right down to avoid the woman's incessant babbling about Point Dume State Beach, but she had found the gentle lapping waves of the sparkling sea as it foamed over the silky sand soothing enough to distract her for a while. Whilst she was watching the hypnotic push and pull of the water it meant she didn't have to think about much. Jinn had sat with her for a little while and made an effort to engage her in conversation but Eutopia's mind was full with too much already. Eventually, he had discreetly left her to it. She hadn't noticed that the August sun had been inching further and further away until the birds that had been tweeting outside finally stopped. Azure twilight lay thick beyond the green drapes at the windows, the lounge deep in shadows that danced with each flicker of the bright images on the TV screen. She got up and crossed the room to switch on the light but her finger paused over the wall switch that would illuminate the ostentatious chandelier suspended from the plaster rose in the middle of the ceiling. What the hell was she doing sitting here? Although she had to admit she had never been in a situation quite this bad, she knew exactly how she should be dealing with it.

Standing on the threshold of the wide French doors that let out from the kitchen into the garden beyond a short time later, her backpack on her shoulders and her phone in her jeans pocket, she felt like an eleven year old child again. Her heart beat hard and fast in her chest as she snuck a glance behind her before slipping out into the night and pulling the door closed behind her. As soon as the thought had come to her Eutopia had hurried upstairs to pack her few things into her bag; deciding to leave through the back of the house rather than the front, afraid that the crunch of the gravelled drive might alert Jinn to her departure. Jinn's bedroom door was closed when she had returned upstairs to her room and Eutopia had not seen him as she skulked through the half-lit house. In a way she was grateful as the very thought of trying to say goodbye to him and apologise for the mess she had led him into made her feel awkward. The man was a complete and utter mystery to her despite the enforced camaraderie of their situation. Those feline-like eyes of his that watched her so carefully, such a deep blue they appeared to glow indigo, sent little waves of electricity prickling along her skin. His impossibly perfect features, framed gloriously by his short dark hair had made her question reality more than once as she found herself trying to catch a glimmer of sunlight reflecting off his skin in rainbow sparkles now and then. She knew she probably shouldn't have watched those vampire films that had been so hyped up over the past few years or so, they'd clearly addled her concept of reality when it came to men… Before leaving Eutopia had debated the idea of leaving him a note, but what would she say? Besides, she found her childlike scrawl embarrassing, he probably wouldn't have been able to make sense of it and by the time she had managed to finish writing it he might have been stood reading over her shoulder. Writing had never been a strong point of hers. Nor had reading for that matter since her education had been so inconsistent with all the running away she'd been preoccupied with. Eutopia had never really got on with school; especially not after she'd gone to live with her foster parents. She found it hard to relate to the other children as a swirling green mist of jealousy always came down around her whenever she saw the mothers waiting for her classmates at the end of the day. Though Gillian was attentive in her vacant sort of way, she just wasn't the same as Eutopia's own mother.

The clear white light of the full moon lit her way now as she tramped across the neatly clipped lawn that seemed to stretch out for miles. A large cluster of trees, an orchard perhaps, stationed behind a low grey wall, stood to the left of the winding paved path that she avoided for no other reason than the fact she liked how the grass felt under her feet. She paused for a moment, admiring the expanse of Jinn's land. It was huge. There wasn't a wall or a fence at all that she could see around the perimeter, nothing to pen her in. The grandiose house, a hulking, silvered illusion in the moonlight, sat dark and still behind her as she walked. Eutopia had no idea what lay beyond the back of the house other than the gently sloping grass that she could see but she was about to find out as she set off purposefully, trying to ignore the darkness that crept closer each time the moon was swallowed up by a scudding cloud.

Eutopia walked until her back began to ache from the weight of her backpack and the ground beneath her bare feet shifted from velvety grass to damp, mossy earth. The sparse trees that had been dotted here and there had been increasing in number during the last twenty minutes that she had been walking, their old and twisted branches reaching up and out in a bid to touch twigs with each other, spreading leaves that filtered the moonlight like lace. She stopped for a moment, leaning against a thick oak tree to pluck at a spiny stick that had wedged itself between the ball of her foot and her big toe before digging a tatty pair of flip-flops out from the bottom of her bag. Hoisting up the backpack again Eutopia stopped, head cocked to one side as she thought she caught the sound of shuffling footsteps close to where she stood. She looked up, peering through the gloom as the light from the moon trickled gradually through the trees as it emerged slowly from behind the wisp of a cloud. Her heart pulsed quickly, jumping into her throat for two beats. The sound was different to the general night-time noises she had grown used to as she walked but as she strained her ears to catch the sound again, nothing came but silence. The gentle rustling of nocturnal animals in the undergrowth around her seemed to have ceased. Despite the white fingers of moonlight that reached through the leaves above Eutopia felt the night suddenly pressing down on her, weighing heavy on her shoulders and damply caressing her face. She whirled around with one hand against the rough bark of the oak tree to steady herself. She could no longer see the house from where she stood; in fact she had lost sight of it round about the same point that she had noticed the trees growing thicker around her. Eutopia guessed she was probably on a fringe of woodland that stretched on as far as she could see, both in front and from either side of her. She knew she was quite a distance from the house now as she could no longer see the black shape blotting out the dark sky on the horizon behind her. Suddenly her plan didn't seem like such a good idea though her pride would not let her return. She couldn't bear the thought of his dark eyes giving her that cool, knowing look.

'Keep going, its fine. It's fine,' she muttered breathlessly to herself, fumbling in her pocket for the only source of light she had, her mobile phone. Shaky fingers jabbed randomly at the numbers to illuminate the tiny screen which gave off a sickly green glow, the light barely enough to pierce the blackness around her. Eutopia held it up like a shield to ward off the shadows that seemed to creep closer as she forced herself to walk on a little bit further, fingertips dragging over the uneven bark of surrounding trees in an attempt to ground her fears. Another shuffle, whispering leaves underfoot, closer to her now, sent a hand up to her mouth to stifle a moan of terror as her eyes snapped shut in an attempt to block out the half-forgotten memories of a wet London side street. One foot moved, seemingly by itself, before the other did too and she stumbled on blindly in the hope that she could leave her fear behind with the noises. Hostile branches reached out to snag her hair and scratch at her face and neck, pulling at her jumper, jagged tree trunks grazed her palms as she wound her way through the woods. A sudden soft _whoosh_ nearby caused her to flinch, hands clamped over her head for fear a bat or something equally disgusting would tangle itself in her hair. Eutopia risked a glance up into the high branches above and caught sight of something gleaming and white defused in the sky as it flew by. A whimper escaped her lips, the phone with the tiny glowing screen falling from her trembling hands as she crouched against the base of a tree to press her fingers to her eyes.

Something light and gentle touched her quivering shoulder, warm fingers brushing the side of her cheek that was uncovered by her hands, making Eutopia cry out in fear.

'It's ok, it's Jinn. Eutopia, its Jinn,' his calm words reached out across the blackness and his solid frame fell backwards a step as the girl flung herself at him, bowling into his torso with a dense _whump_. He heard the sob cut short in her throat as she pressed herself against his chest, overwhelmed by the sudden sense of security that his appearance instilled. 'Did you get lost?' he asked, gliding a finger beneath her chin to tilt her head up to look at her face when she didn't answer him. Eutopia's hands lay inert on his chest, tangled tresses pulled from the ponytail by the cruel branches around her, stuck to cheeks shiny wet with tears and streaked with faint smudges of dirt. Jinn brushed the hair from her face and looked straight into her wide, terrified eyes with alarm. 'Eutopia? Are you hurt?' She shook her head, dislodging his hands from her cheeks, taking a few deep and calming breaths before she managed to get herself under control. Her racing heart still pounded painfully against her ribs.

'No,' she whispered.

'You don't like the dark,' he said, as though reminding her unnecessarily.

'No, I don't.'

'So why didn't you wait until morning before doing a runner?'

'I wasn't running, I...' Eutopia began, weakly, but trailed off as she realised that's exactly what she had been doing, or at least intending to do. She took a step back, bumping into the tree behind, letting out a huge sigh as she slid down the trunk as though that breath had been the only thing keeping her standing. 'I don't know what I'm doing any more, I really don't…' Something caught her eye in the darkness, even though her head was lowered, and she realised Jinn was crouched in front of her holding out her Nokia.

'Why didn't you wait until daylight before leaving? If you'd asked, I would have driven you to town.'

'I didn't want you to know I was leaving.'

'Why?'

Eutopia took the phone from him and shook her head. 'I've caused enough trouble in your life already. I thought it would be better for me to just go.'

'You didn't think to leave a note?' he asked with a tinge of hurt in his voice as he sat beside her, leaning against the wide tree. 'I was worried.'

'You barely know me.'

'I know you better than you might think,' Jinn said, quietly. Eutopia regarded him for a moment and said nothing because somehow, sat in the middle of nowhere in the dark, with a murderer, she felt better, her fear sliding away minute by minute.

'I barely know you,' Eutopia said. Jinn nodded, arms resting on his drawn up knees.

'There isn't much to know,' he smiled.

'I know you've travelled a lot and you don't work. But you're well off,'

'Family inheritance,' Jinn agreed.

'So what about your family?' Eutopia asked, curiously turning to look at him, tucking her knees under her chin.

'I have a large family, quite extended actually, but I don't see any of them much anymore. That's mostly my choice I suppose, but we all have different lives to lead, different paths to follow.'

'You don't see any of them?' Eutopia asked in surprise, a flicker of sadness in her eyes at hearing that because being together with her own family was what she longed for most. To have family around her and to consciously choose not to see them was beyond her comprehension. Since she had been separated from Will at eleven years old her whole purpose in life had been to find him again, to feel that she belonged somewhere, in the hope it would help her finally come to terms with her mother's death and erase the dark shadows that tainted her childhood.

'I sometimes speak to a couple of my brothers but we don't keep in regular contact really. I haven't seen my sisters in years. None of my family lives locally, to here or London.'

'Doesn't it bother you?' Eutopia asked, wrapping her arms around her legs to draw them closer. The air was getting chillier with each evening that came and went, marking the beginning of the end of summer. She could feel the warmth of Jinn's arm pressed lightly against hers as they sat side by side beneath the tree. He held a fallen leaf between his fingers, twirling it almost absently as they talked.

'No, it doesn't bother me really. Like I said, we each have our own thing to do. That's just the way our family has always been.'

'Did you get sent to boarding school?' awe coloured Eutopia's tone as she tried to imagine what kind of upbringing he must have had to be so nonchalant about contact with his family. Jinn laughed.

'No, nothing like that. And I wasn't locked in a cupboard under the stairs either before you ask,'

'Why would I ask that?' Eutopia frowned, confused, which made Jinn chuckle again.

'Never mind,' he said, letting the leaf drop from his fingers and watching as it spun like a feather to settle on the ground. 'Family is important to you, isn't it?' he asked, resting his head back against the trunk behind and turning to glance at the girl next to him. Eutopia nodded, reaching out to pick up the oak leaf he had let fall as she nibbled her lower lip, her teeth gently nipping at the healing split that still marred the corner. In the half-light sifting down through the trees around them the bruise that discoloured her milky skin seemed to hollow Eutopia's cheek as she looked down at the leaf in her hand. Jinn's eyes seemed darker as he contemplated it.

'Are you afraid of me, Eutopia?' he asked, abruptly. 'Is that why you left?'

'No,' she said, looking up at him quickly.

'I killed two people,' Jinn said, meeting her eyes without flinching. She nodded, thinking about that for a moment. Neither of them had mentioned the events leading up to the current situation since their first proper conversation back at Jinn's flat and the subject settled uncomfortably in silence around them now. Despite her aching jaw, split lip and the fresh bruise still livid on her cheek, that wet, terrible night in Covent Garden seemed so long ago already. In all the excitement of having managed to contact Mike, her chance meeting with Jinn had slipped to the back of her mind. Eutopia hadn't given much thought as to how Jinn had come to be in that remote little backstreet that had otherwise been deserted… she hadn't the slightest notion as to why he felt the need to step in, nor had he offered details as to how exactly he had. For the first time since she had woken up on his plush sofa in his posh Kensington pad, Eutopia felt bothered by the large blank spaces occupying her memory when it came to the conclusion of that night.

'Tell me what happened. What really happened that night,' she asked. 'Please,' she begged softly when she sensed his reluctance. The lack of recollection caused real anguish that Jinn could see in the tense rigidity of her body as she curled in on herself, the oak leaf forgotten now as she tipped her head to lean her cheek against her arms, resting on her drawn up knees and looking straight at him.

'Do you want to go back to the house?' he asked, 'I thought you didn't like the dark.'

'I don't,' Eutopia said with a frown, annoyed that he should try and change the subject and yet confused at the fact that her fear had slipped away the moment she had found herself pressing against his chest when he had appeared through the trees. That uneasy sense of déjà vu she had felt with him once before prickled at her skin again as she briefly mused on how his mere presence had made her forget the pitch black shadows that lay heavily around them now, as the moon was blotted out once more by a thick cloud. 'Please, just tell me what happened in London that night.'

The void of sound was filled by a distant rustling, a gentle snuffling and the muted _twoo-hoo_ of an owl nearby, normal night-time noises that barely registered in Eutopia's mind as she waited for Jinn to speak. It was a long time before he did, but his voice when it came was as velvety and soft as the lawn that stretched from the house to the woodland they now sat in.

'I told you already,' he began, shifting awkwardly.

'Yes,' Eutopia agreed with narrowed eyes, 'And it feels like you were holding back. I want the truth, everything. I don't really have anywhere to go, but I can't stay with you unless I know the truth.'

'You're right,' Jinn agreed with a deep sigh, 'You were pretty much unconscious when I came across the guys in the alleyway. The muscly one, Ash,' Jinn frowned, fists clenching as he recalled the photograph of the blond man from the news report, his face twisted in Jinn's mind as the night in the alley burned into his memory. 'Ash had you on your knees by the hair, your t-shirt was all torn and loose, revealing everything as he groped you,' his eyes were averted from Eutopia as he spoke, his voice level and emotionless. Eutopia sat up straighter with her spine pressing against the tree behind as she unconsciously twitched at the fabric of the jumper she wore, remembering the tattered material of her shirt the morning she had woken up at Jinn's. In the darkness her cheeks flushed brightly with embarrassment.

'The alleyway backed on to the other side of another street, further out of the way. There was a car, silver BMW, parked at the other end with two other guys.'

'Two other guys? But I thought you killed two, wouldn't that make three?' Eutopia asked, suddenly.

'I did kill two. If you'll let me finish…' She shrugged and Jinn carried on. 'One of the men was the other guy you saw on TV, Davey. I don't know the other one's name,'

'Jason,' Eutopia added, 'His name is Jason.' She shuddered, recalling the laughing figure silhouetted by the encompassing orange glow of the streetlight beyond the little alley.

'Jason. He got away, but he's a dead man walking,' Jinn said, dangerously.

'What, you're planning to kill him?' Eutopia asked with eyes wide with shock.

'Yes.'

'You're sick! Isn't it enough that you've killed two men already?' Eutopia stood up suddenly, swiping at the branches that tangled in her hair, 'You're talking about murder, Jinn!'

'I'm aware of that,' he stood too, towering over her, 'They were attacking you, they could have…'

'Yes!' Eutopia cut across him, sharply, thankful for the cool darkness that covered the blush in her cheeks. 'I know exactly what they could have done, thank you very much. But they didn't. A few scratches and bruises and I'm here to tell the tale.'

'No thanks to me,'

'Yes, no thanks to you,' Eutopia spat, angrily. 'If you could just have called the police like any normal person would have done, instead of playing the hero, we wouldn't be in this mess now. I'd still be in London and I'd be halfway to finding my brother right now. Not everyone is so uncaring about their family, you know. I don't even get why I agreed to come here with you!' Her voice was as icy as her hard eyes as she glared at him. Jinn folded his arms across his wide chest, his own gaze flinty.

'So go back to London, tell the police everything and send them here. I'll even write the address down for you,' he slipped a pen from his pocket.

'Fine, that's exactly what I'll do!' Eutopia's voice rose shrilly as she turned away from him and blundered off into the trees without waiting for him to write anything down.


	12. Chapter 12

Jinn watched as the furious girl stormed off, her slim figure dwarfed and made vulnerable by the size of the trees and the vast night around her. His anger burned deep as he leant back against the oak tree and let the memories Eutopia had stirred flood back into his mind, the images playing out in colour as he closed his eyes.

He had landed silently behind Ash that night, seeming to drop out of thin air though he had been following Eutopia since she had stepped off the tube at Covent Garden. Eutopia must have taken a wrong turn at some point, ducking out of Jinn's view in one fatal instant which was how events had progressed so far already because, God's truth, that guy would never have had the time to lay even a finger on her if Jinn had been there from the beginning. Jinn's temper was already blazing, though at first it was aimed at his own stupidity for losing the girl so easily. Now, it was aimed at the scum in front of him. In one fluid movement he reached out and palmed the top of Ash's head with his large hand and kicked out at the back of the knee that Ash had most of his weight on as he stood there, a fistful of Eutopia's hair in one hand as his other hand tugged at the exposed bra of the unconscious girl. Ash buckled and Jinn pulled his head back hard by the short, blond hair, shifting Ash's centre of gravity so that he would fall on his arse. Jinn's face was stoic, emotionless, his indigo eyes seemed to glow in the dim light, but when he caught a glimpse of Eutopia's state they turned hard. The corner of his lip turned up in a snarl as he slapped the man's hands away from the girl, gripped him under his arms and shot straight up into the air.

Now it was Ash's turn to be afraid. He screamed in fear as the ground suddenly shrank in his view. The roar of air as it rushed around him all but muted his cries. First he saw the alley from two or three stories up, then a moment later he was looking down at the city as a whole, twinkling lights flickering serenely below like so many scattered stars. The sight might have been beautiful given some other situation. The view went unappreciated by either of them, though. Jinn had seen it all before and Ash was too petrified to give it much attention. The feeling of rapid ascension didn't seem to cease until at last Jinn turned the man to face him. Jinn's eyes were still hard, anger seethed from his very essence and the look of utter disdain he gave him made Ash shudder with terror. There was something so familiar in the other man's eyes as Jinn looked deep into them. _Nephilim!_ Jinn had heard of these ghastly creatures, so like human men in their physicality yet so un-human in their emotions...

Ash was a predator but he was a cowardly one and he knew that now as he stared into the eyes of this thing that loomed over him. He was looking into the eyes of a true apex predator and suddenly the fact that they hung weightless in the air was lost on him. So too was the fact that this predator had wings, large ones which extended out fully as gravity tightened its grip on them and began to pull them back toward the earth.

Ash had just enough time to piss himself before Jinn pulled his feathered wings in close and spun in a complete circle, flipping in the air to dive head first back down to the alleyway they had shot out from only moments before. The slick pavement raced up to meet them both but Jinn pulled up with enough time to set his booted feet on the ground with barely a jolt, far away from where Eutopia lay unconscious. The glint of something steely caught Ash's terrified eyes, reflecting the soft glow of Davey's headlights in the distance. A wry smile touched Jinn's lips as he gripped the man before him with his other hand. He hoped that Ash would try to make peace with God as the knife registered in his horrified mind and Jinn hoped he would be utterly denied.

'Tell him I've redeemed myself now,' he muttered to Ash.

Not wasting another moment on the scum, Jinn dragged the blade across Ash's throat and let him drop to the ground to bleed to death as he raced back down the alley in time to find the other man, Jason, skulking around the corner looking around for his friend. He called out curiously for Ash as he approached the unconscious Eutopia and the other guy, Davey, wandered down the alley from the opposite end gawking up at the night sky.

"Davey, what the fuck happened to Ash? Davey what are you looking at?" Jason asked as he knelt over the girl. Davey didn't have time to respond, Jinn was on him in a blur of motion, rolling Davey down the alley back toward his car without even a thought as to why the Nephilim were skulking about in such a large group. Two might possibly team up occasionally, but it was almost unheard of for three to join together, they were usually single predators. There was a sickening sound of impact, the breaking of bone and cartilage. Jason could only stare at the profile of a large man, a winged shape of black against the headlights of the car down the alley, his mouth wide open as he connected the nauseating noise with the crumpled, unmoving figure of Davey on the floor.

"Oh shit!" Jason exclaimed, stumbling to his feet to run as fast as he could. The shock and horror of what he had just seen, plus the fact that he carried more than a few quids worth of crack in his jeans pocket, kept him silent as he fled. Jinn, too concerned with Eutopia still lying motionless on the dirty ground, let him go. For now. He noticed the girl's bag lying in a puddle and slung it with ease over his shoulder before racing back to Eutopia's side, touching her cheek gently. She was definitely out for the count. He could see a bruise beginning to form on one side of her face, blood drying over her delicate chin, darker at the corner of her mouth where her lip had split. Jinn frowned blackly and scooped her up carefully into his arms. There was a muffled ruffle of feathers as he spread his wings for a second time that night and took off, up out of the dingy alleyway, unbothered by the rain that began to fall more heavily on the horrific scene below.

Jinn shook his head in an attempt to clear the images from his mind, a frown still creasing his usually smooth brow. Anger pulsed in his veins as a trace emotion, residual energy from the memory and all the unanswered questions he had little time to address, though Eutopia's fury had irritated him. Jinn realised that he could no longer hear her crashing through the trees and he worried that she might get lost or hurt herself so with a heavy sigh he set off after her, his steps light and almost soundless as he wove his way gracefully through the path Eutopia had carved clumsily through the undergrowth. It didn't take Jinn long to catch up with her as she had stopped to untangle a creeping bramble frond from her flip-flop, cursing under her breath.

'Eutopia,' he called, 'wait.' Jinn caught the dark flash of her eyes as she turned pointedly away and marched on with no idea as to where she was going. The milky trickle of moonlight grew weaker and weaker as the trees began to thicken around her, the web of leaves above blocking out more of the light as she wandered deeper into the woodland. 'I thought you wanted to hear the truth?' Jinn called to her, not wanting to follow too closely in case she viewed him as a threat now, he didn't want her to bolt.

'I don't want to hear anything from you, you've said enough,' she called back without slowing down, forcing her way between the gaps of the trees now.

'I don't like to have unfinished business,' Jinn said, simply. That pulled Eutopia up short as she spun around to gaze at him in disgust.

'Business? Is that what you call the act of taking someone's life? Murder is business? Who do you think you are, God?' she scoffed.

'Not exactly,' Jinn stopped a few feet away from her, seemingly unruffled by her questions, but his eyes still blazed blackly. 'But some things just need taking care of.'

'I cannot believe you just said that. What are you, some kind of renegade angel?' Eutopia asked sarcastically.

'Sort of.' His voice matched his deadpan expression, his eyes gleaming and hard.

'You are seriously weird. Just stay away from me.' Eutopia turned her back on him to shoulder her way through the trees again, glancing nervously at him before she had to watch where she was putting her feet. The sole of her left foot still hurt from where the bramble branch had stuck its thorns in. Unexpectedly, the strangest feeling of weightlessness took over her; the pit of her stomach seemed to drop away as she felt herself flying through the air for the shortest moment, before her feet came to touch the ground again and she found herself pressed face first against the trunk of a willow tree. Bright moonlight streamed down again from between the delicately dripping branches, a welcome relief from the gloom of the woodland. Jinn gripped Eutopia's shoulder with a firm but gentle pressure, turning her around to face him and the wide clearing they now stood in. Eutopia could see the flat surface of a little lake reflecting the full moon behind Jinn, dropping straight down from the lush grass around it with little by way of a bank or shore. She met his intense gaze with eyes wide with sudden fear.

'Don't touch me,' she said, trying to keep the trembling from her voice. Jinn immediately let his hand drop from her shoulder but he didn't move back to widen the six inch gap between them. Eutopia could feel the body heat emanating from him. He took a deep, steadying breath and tried to make his tone reasonable.

'Look, it's dark and it's late. Just come back to the house until morning. I'll drop you at the train station first thing.'

'Stay away from me!' Eutopia growled, shoving him as hard as she could to gain some space. She would never have succeeded in moving him an inch, no matter how hard she pushed, but Jinn got the message and took a few steps back.

'You asked me to be honest. I'm sorry if you don't like the truth,' Jinn said quietly. 'I couldn't stand by while those… while you were being attacked like that. Those men were dangerous and one of them is still walking around out there.' His tone sharpened again at the thought, a flicker of moonlight dancing dangerously in his eyes. 'I can't rest knowing that.'

'Then do what's right. There isn't much difference between rape and murder, it's essentially doing the same thing; destroying a life and the lives of people who care about that person,' Eutopia spat, causing an angry snarl to rumble in Jinn's throat.

'It's nothing alike!' he barked, 'He was big enough to get involved in the first place; he should be man enough to take what's coming. And it is coming.'

'What gives you the right to deal out punishment like that? You're sick!'

Jinn laughed and the sound was harsh and hollow in the still of the night, his eyes flashed and his teeth clenched as though he was trying to keep his anger in check. 'I'm sick?' he asked, incredulously, as his hand reached across the space between them to touch the dark bruise on Eutopia's cheek. 'They did this to you, only because I stopped it from going any further, and yet _I'm_ the one that's sick? I think you're the one with the problem if you see it that way.'

'Take your hand off me,' Eutopia growled fiercely, her breath quickening and her heart racing as the ghostly memory of being pressed up against a wall flitted through her mind's eye, the overwhelming sense of being trapped set her ears buzzing hollowly. The tree behind her was knobbly against her spine, reminding her she could not back away, and the bowed branches of the willow hung down around them to blinker her view of the clearing and tunnel her vision like the thick bars of a cage. Yet Jinn did not move his hand away quick enough, his fingers still rested lightly on her cheek and his steely eyes were fixed unwavering on hers as panic at the recollection gripped Eutopia's throat and made it hard for her to breathe. Feeling like a cornered cat she lashed out in the only way she could think of. Her head twisted rapidly and her teeth caught in the flesh of Jinn's hand and she bit down as hard as she could, sickened at the thought that this biting seemed to be becoming a habit of hers. It had the desired reaction. As Eutopia had hoped, Jinn let out a cry of pain and immediately pulled his hand away yanking it forcefully from between Eutopia's teeth which snapped sharply together with the absence of skin to sink into.

A gasp of uncertainty escaped her as she looked up to meet Jinn's eyes which were narrowed and his strong jaw was set as he closed the gap between them without warning and lifted Eutopia clean off her feet, cradling her to his chest like a child and crossing the clearing with a few long strides. It happened too quickly for Eutopia to register anything other than surprise as her feet left the ground and she breathed in the clean, warm scent of Jinn as he held her close before she felt the world spinning around her and the cold, black water of the lake enveloped her entirely.

The water was far more bitter than she had expected it to be, sharp and icy against any skin that was bare and dark, so dark despite the clear moonlight above. Silvery bubbles of her escaped breath tickled her face and distorted her vision, disorientating her as she searched for the right way up whilst at the same time trying to force down the beast of terror that clawed at her. Eutopia had never learnt to swim and the feeling of water in her mouth, her ears, eyes and rushing up her nose as her lungs burned with the need to take a breath was terrifying. Her arms and legs were leaden already with the water that had soaked into her clothes which gave a nightmarishly slowness to her frantic movements as she tried to thrash her way upwards. She could hear nothing but the eerie absence of noise that comes with being submerged in water, and her own frenzied heartbeat that throbbed painfully in her head.

It could only have been seconds before she felt a thick arm curl around her chest beneath her sluggishly flailing arms and the sudden warmth of another body pressed close behind her, though to Eutopia and her scorching lungs those precious few seconds felt like too many minutes. Her head broke the surface of the lake and she gulped in the cool night air in sweet relief, spluttering and coughing loud enough to shatter the silence around them as their bodies sent crazy ripples across the still water's surface. Jinn said nothing as he towed her back to the lake-edge and heaved her onto the grass where she lay for a moment on her side, evacuating her tortured lungs of the black water she had breathed in. When she could sit up she flipped the long dripping hair from her face and glared up at him as he stood beside her, looking much less like the half-drowned rat she resembled and more like one of Neptune's god-like offspring.

'You complete arsehole!' Eutopia exploded, a little hoarsely. Jinn stood precariously near the edge, his back to the still undulating water, with his arms folded across his chest and his expression stony. She had to fight the urge to push him in.

'I wasn't aware you couldn't swim,' Jinn said. The light from the moon shone clearly into the little glade, uninhibited by the ring of surrounding trees, silvering his handsome face, his features made intense by the frown he still wore. Eutopia's cold fingers were clasped suddenly by his warm ones as he helped her to stand.

'Well, that was unnecessary,' she managed through chattering teeth , dripping murky pond water as the cool night air snapped at her wet skin and sank into her soaked clothes, her dark blue eyes hard and unforgiving.

'I'm sorry,' Jinn muttered softly as he reached down to grab his hooded jumper he'd stripped off before diving in after the girl. He held it out to Eutopia, a truce flag that hung between them for a moment as she considered it. Shivering, her eyes softened and she took it, turning her back on him to peel off her own sodden jumper and the thin cotton t-shirt beneath, already too cold to feel embarrassed. Jinn averted his gaze back to the now smooth surface of the lake, watching as the subtle white light played on the calm water whilst Eutopia swapped her wet clothes for his dry ones. The cool air didn't seem to bother him at all despite his own dripping shirt and jeans.

'So you should be sorry,' Eutopia said, huffily, jamming her hands deep into the kangaroo pocket of his jumper to warm her fingers up. A sigh escaped her lips, soft and almost hesitant. She walked back to the willow tree that was closest to the edge of the water and sat down, drawing her soggy knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them as her eyes followed Jinn's movements warily.

'You shouldn't have bitten me,' he said, coming to sit beside her. 'You might want to take your jeans off too, you'll get a cold.' Eutopia, annoyed that he was right, shuffled out of her jeans whilst remaining as tightly curled into herself as possible. She pulled his jumper down over her knees to swamp herself in its warmth whilst splaying her wet jeans out on the ground with the other hand to dry.

'Why can't you just leave me alone?' she asked without looking at him, 'my life has been nothing but complicated since you strolled into it.'

'Actually, I think you'll find it was complicated long before then,' Jinn said, gently taking her left wrist in one hand and unwrapping her arm from around her knees. He pushed the sleeve of the jumper up to reveal the faint, hair-thin scars that laced the inside of her forearm from the crease of her elbow to her wrist. Eutopia froze at his touch, but did not resist as she too looked down at the scatter of sharp lines, each one a reminder for her etched forever into her creamy skin. 'What are these?' Jinn asked, softly, the anger fled from his azure eyes now as they followed the pattern on Eutopia's arm.

'Scars.'

'I can see that. But why?'

'Don't you ever wish you could be someone else? Anyone other than you, in any other place but here?' she asked, repeating the sleepy question she had asked him at the house the night before, tracing one of the thickest scars near her wrist with a finger. Jinn shook his head slightly, a tiny, barely there motion.

'No.' His answer made Eutopia smile, though the humour never reached her eyes which were still fixed on her arm. Not that it was mutilated, the scars could hardly be seen in the daylight, but here between the shadows and thrown into stark relief by the moon they were visible with her sleeve pushed up. Jinn had seen them before, when he had laid her on the sofa in his flat after rescuing her from the alleyway, as he had been checking her over for any other injuries. They had caused his brows to knit then as they did now and stirred his curiosity whilst weighing heavily on his mind. He had to know. Other things had crept up since that evening and it hadn't seemed appropriate then, but now, in the near silence of the secluded clearing beneath the gentle light of the stars that afforded them some sense of intimacy, however forced, it seemed right.

'Each one of these,' she said, stroking the criss-cross of lines, 'each one is a wish.'

'They're some pretty desperate wishes.' Jinn murmured as his finger snaked smoothly across the scars along her arm, her wrist held lightly by his other hand.

'I'm not ashamed. It's part of who I am. I wasn't trying to kill myself or anything, I'm not that crazy.' Eutopia gave Jinn a wry smile.

'I don't think you're crazy. You wanted help.' It was a statement rather than a question. Eutopia nodded as she pulled the sleeve back down, pulling both her arms inside the jumper and hugging her knees beneath.

'I used to cut myself a lot.'

'With what?' he asked.

'Knives, razor blades. A piece of glass once, anything really.'

'Did it help?' Jinn probed, curiously, the frown still fixed to his forehead.

'It was a release sometimes, a rush. Other times I just wished someone would walk in on me and stop me or ask me why. I was ten when I started. What normal ten year old child cuts themself?' Eutopia demanded with bitter softness, leaning her head back against the willow tree to look up at the stars. Her hair, still pulled back in its ponytail, trickled cold droplets of water down the back of her neck and caused her to shiver.

'Why?' Jinn's voice was thick with emotion 'Why did you do it?' The words were low in the darkness, but Eutopia heard them clearly as Jinn had moved closer to her. She could feel the warm solidness of his body pressing against her side even though he was just as wet. Despite the thick, soft fabric of Jinn's jumper that she still had tucked around her knees, Eutopia felt chilly, so the damp heat was welcome and she didn't pull away.

'I didn't know what else to do.' Eutopia shrugged. 'I felt like I had no one. I'd lost my mum, my brother. I was never very good at making friends really.'

'What about your foster parents, you couldn't talk to them?'

'Part of the problem. Not so much my foster mother…' Eutopia glanced up at Jinn and realised she was leaning against him now, relishing the heat he put out. She saw Jinn's eyes twitch wider, ever so slightly, his earlier fury clouding the gentle indigo in a way that Eutopia recognised now. 'It never got that far,' she said, answering the unasked question. 'It all started the night after my tenth birthday. My foster father was Andrew Scott,' Eutopia's mouth twisted as she spat his name, remembering his wet, rubbery lips and floppy mousey-brown hair. 'When I first moved in he made this big show about trying to break my fear of the dark. He said it was like learning to swim, you just had to dive straight in. Not that I ever got the hang of that either,' she grinned, wryly. 'I used to pull my quilt over my head and wait, sometimes for hours, until I heard them come up the stairs at night and go to bed. The floorboard just outside their bedroom door used to squeak, so I knew when they were in their room. Then I would put on my light, but Andrew would always know. I guess he could see the glow in the hallway because they never used to close their door. He would storm back in and take the bulb out, saying I was cheating and I'd never grow up if I didn't learn not to be afraid. I was six years old then. When I was eight and more settled in, I would argue back. I used to get really angry and shout at him, but he wouldn't say anything or let me have the light back. He would just hold me, like, cuddle me on my bed until I was quiet… Even when I stopped the arguing, stopped turning on my light, he would creep into my room once my foster mother, Gillian, was asleep and still do it. It really freaked me out, but Gillian didn't think it odd even when I told her I didn't like it. Mostly she just changed the subject whenever I tried to talk about it. After I turned ten the cuddles turned into strokes and touches, even though by that point I'd learnt to squeeze my eyes shut and curl up under the duvet as tightly as I could. There wasn't anywhere his hands didn't reach… But it never went further than that, which I'm grateful for.' Eutopia shook her head, her voice husky with pent up emotion. 'I had to get out of there though. I knew it wasn't normal. I'd never had a father figure before, but it didn't feel right. I just had to get out of there. I'd already decided I was going before Will turned up that night; I just hadn't worked out the details. Cutting myself was just a temporary solution that turned into a habit I couldn't shake as I got older. A cry for help, I guess. Each time I pulled a blade across my skin I just wanted to bleed all that pain and anger away. Each time I did it I made a wish; for my mum to come back, to be with Will, for Andrew to leave me alone, for somewhere warm to sleep when I was on the run, not to be put back into care… for a little help. My wish list was endless. Still is, I guess. '

'I'm here now. I can help you. I only wish I could have been here sooner.' Jinn whispered. He was looking at her with such intensity that she looked up to find his eyes burning into hers with a sadness that made her heart ache unexpectedly. 'Just let me help you.' One of his fingers shifted a stray tendril of her dark, damp hair as it curled over her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. 'You don't know how long I've waited to be here with you.' Jinn's fingertip slid over her bruised cheek to brush along the full curve of Eutopia's lips, parted slightly in wonder as her wide eyes, deep fathomless sapphires, were fixed on his timeless face that seemed comfortingly familiar. The strong defined lines of his features blurred, whether diffused by the night as a thick cloud passed over, or because of the tears that gathered unshed in her eyes, Eutopia wasn't sure.


	13. Chapter 13

The only thing Eirene could be sure of was the ache in her heart as the little nightingale lay still and cold in her upturned palm.

She and Aisha had been tending the formal flower beds in the garden that sprawled lushly in the centre of the villa complex, walled in on all four sides by the smooth sandy stone of the dwelling. A veritable trap for the afternoon sun, it was looked out upon from the _peristylium_ colonnaded walkways. They had been supervised, as always, by Phoibe who mostly sat snoozing in the shade of a cypress tree with her ample bottom spread out on the cool marble of a curved bench. Eirene had been slipping earthworms into the folds of her toga as she scrabbled around between the blooming lilies, much to Aisha's disgust, and had waited until the gentle snores of the old woman reached her ears before downing tools and slipping off to her _cubiculum_. Aisha had watched her go without comment, simply shaking her head as she trimmed off a handful of thyme from the wiry plant that grew along the edge of the lily bed.

Eirene had rushed along the mosaicked hallways of the villa, leaving a trail of crumbled earth behind her, hoping to feed the nightingale and get back to the garden before Phoibe woke with a grunt to find her missing. She had knelt down beside the golden cage that sat on the floor at the foot of her bed, nibbling her lower lip in worry as the little bird didn't hop joyfully over to her on his good leg as he usually did when she entered the room. The small feathered body, dusty brown against the yellow straw, lay unmoving with tiny black eyes that were lacklustre and dull. Very gently Eirene had lifted him out from the cage, the handful of worms she had pulled out from her toga were massed in a forgotten, wriggling pile on the unadorned stone of the floor.

'Oh no,' Eirene whispered softly, feeling the coldness of death seeping through the feathers as dry as old leaves to taint her hand. The absence of the bird's tiny, fragile heartbeat was almost deafening to her. Alexis had been right. For three days she had needlessly dragged out the poor creatures suffering for her own selfishness. One finger stroked the creamy coloured feathers of the nightingale's upturned belly as it lay on her hand. Why had she been so stubborn?

'You did your best, Eirene; no one can fault you for that.' Alexis' warm tone drifted in from the doorway, the thin curtain bunched in one of his large hands as he held it to one side.

'Master!' Eirene exclaimed in surprise as she jumped to her feet, unfortunately standing on the little pile of worms she had left on the floor. They felt cold and slimy as they squirmed beneath her bare toes but she barely flinched, hardly noticing as she looked up at the handsome Alexis. The gloom that had engulfed her heart at finding the nightingale dead was suddenly lifted at the unexpected appearance of him. 'I thought you and the Mistress were dining with Senator Cato this afternoon?' Alexis let the curtain drop, the plain white wool finely woven swung back to fill the doorway as he came to loom over Eirene.

'Eirene, you are standing on your earthworms,' he remarked, gently lifting the bird from her loose fingers to examine it more closely. The girl hurriedly lifted her foot and scooped the somewhat crushed but still writhing worms into her hands before scattering them out of the window to the dry earth below. Eirene stayed where she was, her back to the casement, facing the room as she fidgeted nervously with a fold of her simple, draping toga that was twisted and secured at either shoulder with a plain silver broach. She hadn't seen Alexis since the fateful day that he had given the nightingale and its golden cage to her. Aisha had reliably informed her a few days ago, having heard it from the lips of Liviana, that the Master would be in and out of the house for a while on business with the Senator and that a lavish dinner was planned at Senator Cato's villa on the conclusion of this commerce. This was a huge relief to Eirene who hadn't savoured the thought of serving Cato at a feast since the last debacle. Liviana had taken to lounging luxuriously in the vine hung pergola of the pleasure garden, or retreating to her _cubiculum_ to pout at being excluded from her brother's business and refusing to be served by none but Aisha. That morning the favoured slave had spent even longer than usual curling and coiffing the Mistress' golden hair into an elaborate up-do, studded with blush-pink pearls and caught up in a shimmering silver net as fine as a spiders web. She had helped Liviana to slip into a delicate silk toga of pure white, decorated with twists of silver thread woven intricately into the fabric itself and connected at the shoulders by two strings of small, ivory pearls. A glittering silver snake with two grass-green emeralds for eyes lay around her neck, dipping into the plunging neckline of her toga before looping up to engulf its own tail; another gift from Alexis that had convinced his narcissistic sister to stay in Rome longer than already promised. It was a method that never ceased to fail; no matter how many times Alexis used it. Aisha had described Liviana to a wide-eyed Eirene earlier that morning as they began work in the garden. Phoibe had walked Liviana through the winding streets to the large, though less sumptuous villa that belonged to the Senator before the old woman had bustled back to supervise the two girls outside. Both Alexis and Liviana hadn't been expected back until later that evening and so the Master's sudden appearance in her room had startled Eirene into silence. She watched as Alexis ran a thick finger along the unruffled feathers of the nightingale still laid in his palm.

'I'm sorry, Eirene.'

'I should have listened to you, Master. You said he wouldn't last. It was my own stubborn pride that made him suffer.' Eirene bit her lower lip again, dark eyes lowered as she shook the wild tangles of her long hair from her face.

'It was your stubborn pride that gave the bird a chance, Eirene. That was a very compassionate thing to do. You gave him a little spark of hope. Most people wouldn't care enough to try for a creature so small and worthless.' Eirene's slight shoulders were lifted in a shrug.

'No creature is worthless, no matter how small,' she replied, hotly, causing Alexis to smile. 'But, what will you do with him, Master?' she asked softly, raising her eyes enough to take in the tiny feathered form on his hand.

'You tended him, what would you like me to do with him?' A solid hush hung between them for a moment as she met his gentle gaze. Though Eirene had never spoken to her Master about his spiritual beliefs and she still put much store by the old gods, she had heard Alexis' doctrine from Phoibe. There was something dangerously exotic about one all powerful and sometimes kindly God. The Father, Phoibe had referred to him as, the Father of all creatures, big and small. The idea that this little, insignificant creature would be welcomed into the afterlife with open arms appealed more to her than offering him up to the fickle, self-satisfying nature of the gods she had been born to. Rome was changing, she could feel it.

'What would _you_ do with him, Master?' she asked with her voice a trembling whisper.

'Bury him; say a little prayer for the safe deliverance of his soul into Gods hands.' Eirene nodded and the smallest of smiles played on Alexis' lips. 'You would like to do that, Eirene?'

'Yes. But… I don't want anyone to know,' she swallowed a lump in her suddenly dry throat, imagining the look of disdain etched on Aisha's face if she knew Eirene was turning her back on her religion. Aisha held strongly to an unwavering love of the old gods and had professed her need to die first before ever shifting her alliance. 'Please. I would rather Aisha believed he has flown away. It would break her heart more than mine to know he didn't make it, Master,' which was quite true. Eirene had on occasion over the past few nights found Aisha knelt at the foot of her bed in front of the gilded cage, crooning to the little bird some soft and gentle lullaby from her childhood as she petted his tiny head through the bars and slept. Alexis' gaze lingered over the pleading girl for a moment.

'Very well,' he said, crossing the small room in two long strides and pulling back the curtain that hung at the window. Alexis poked his head out, judging the distance from the sill to the ground below. The window faced out of the back of the villa where a few old olive trees spread their branches and the fertile soil of the trailing vineyards lay, secluded from the main pleasure garden that nestled in the centre of the complex. This part of the land could only be accessed by walking the whole perimeter of the villa outside, through the kitchen door or out of the window of Aisha and Eirene's _cubiculum_. Alexis obviously thought it sheltered enough and so slipped deftly out with the bird cupped carefully in one hand. Eirene followed him without hesitation, jumping down from the window to land lithe and silent at his side. Alexis appraised her landing and muttered, 'You've done that before.' Eirene offered an uncertain smile. 'I know you were in town again last night,' he continued, crouching at the base of the thick olive tree that cast a dappled shadow on the ground. He had found a large, flat rock beneath the scrubby branches of a little bush and had begun scraping at the ground to form a little hollow in the earth, the bird placed tenderly to one side. Eirene took the rock from Alexis, kneeling beside him. She didn't like the thought of seeing smudges of dirt on the white toga he wore, which was shorter than her own but far more elegant in its style. His red cloak was still attached with a heavy gold broach at his right shoulder and his long silver sword was settled in its scabbard still strapped to his waist. Eirene noticed he still wore his outdoor sandals, the wide strips of brown leather crossed and wound around the sculpted muscle of his calves. Alexis must not have been home long before coming to her room.

'Please, Master, let me do that,' Eirene dug at the dirt with the stone, widening and deepening the little hollow Alexis had begun. He watched her for a moment.

'I said I know that you were in town again last night,' he said again, crouched beside her on his strong haunches.

'Should I make it a little bit deeper do you think? It's already wide enough.'

'Eirene, stop. Look at me.' Alexis caught the girl's wrist in his hand to prevent her from striking at the ground again, lowering his head to catch her eye. His tone was firm, commanding and Eirene blinked slowly, twice, before reluctantly meeting his gaze. 'I know you're trying to find something. You're searching for something, or someone. But you've got to stop. It's too dangerous out there for you. If Liviana sees you one night she'll have no hesitations in having you branded as a runaway on the spot and I don't want that.' Eirene pulled her wrist away from him and reached down to pick up the little bird. She laid it carefully in the shallow grave and used both of her hands to cover it over again, pushing the earth back into the hole and patting it down gently.

'Germanus,' she said softly, smoothing the soil with her hand so that it formed a little mound.

'A lover?' Eirene didn't see the spark of emotion that flared in Alexis' eyes, but she clearly heard the twinge of jealousy in his almost dangerously soft voice. She smiled.

'My brother.'

Alexis picked up the flat rock that Eirene had laid down as she filled up the grave and placed it, point down, at the head end to mark the spot.

'This is the exact same place that I found him,' Eirene said, sitting back on her heels as she absently traced a little pattern in the dirt that now covered the bird. 'I should have left him. Or let you kill him. He must have been in so much pain but I thought I could save him,' she muttered bitterly.

'You can't save everyone, Eirene. You might want to but sometimes you just can't. Man's fate is destined already. Paths have been chosen and though sometimes man may stray from those paths, free to make his own choices, the destination is already set and so the end result is essentially the same.' Alexis said as he stood up, looking down at Eirene as she knelt at his feet and contemplated his words.

'I don't understand,' she said, finally. Alexis motioned to the tiny grave beside her.

'The nightingale, for instance. If you hadn't found it the bird would have died much sooner from its injury. It could have lain here undiscovered by you and been targeted by a larger predator. I could have ended its life, if you'd let me. As it was, you found it and you nursed it, which helped prolong its life for a few more days but it still died. You see, no matter which path any of us would have chosen, the ending would be the same because the birds life had already been mapped out.'

'You can't know that. People make their own destiny. There isn't a set path for anybody.' Eirene stood, brushing the dirt from her knees and eyeing him warily as Alexis pressed his palms together and mumbled something. An incantation it sounded like, or a prayer, but his words were spoken too quietly for her to be sure.

'You're right. I can't know for sure. Only God knows that.' Eirene pressed her full lips together, crushing them in a strained line, but she said nothing. The soft, serious tone lifted from Alexis' voice as he moved on in a brusquer manner. 'This brother of yours, Germanus, do you know where he is?'

'No. I think he was sold at the auction before me. The men were bid on first so I don't know where he ended up. On a farm somewhere I'm sure. I've been going into the town to see if I can find out anything about who bought him. I know I'm not supposed to leave the villa without your permission, Master, but I was afraid you would forbid it.' The wild fire in her eyes suggested to Alexis that she would continue to go, whether it was forbidden or not.

'I do forbid it.' Alexis said, rubbing one hand over his clean shaven jaw. 'Unless I am with you. I will escort you into the town and we will search for Germanus together. But you are not to go into town unless I am with you. Do you understand?' Eirene shuffled her bare feet, playing with the hem of her toga like a child being reprimanded as she studied the dull green leaves of the olive tree.

'Eirene! Do you understand?' Alexis barked, guiding her chin back down with the lightest touch of his finger so his beautiful eyes could lock with hers.

'Yes, _Dominus_.'

'Alexis. Alexis Caelum!' The exquisite tone of Liviana's voice rang out tunefully clear, reverberating from the stone walls and reaching them outside. The sharpness of it caused Eirene to jump slightly and Alexis stiffened minutely, his eyes hardening as he turned bodily towards the villa.

'We will let anyone who asks know that the nightingale was released today. And you will not venture into the town or out of this villa without my permission and my company.' Alexis turned to stalk around the perimeter of the villa in the direction of the front entrance. Eirene stood where she was for a moment, watching him until he was out of sight. She frowned, feeling the hot sun beating down on her dark hair which hung loose and heavy on her neck, untamed as usual. Straining her ears for Liviana's voice again but hearing nothing, Eirene made a running jump for her bedroom window, pulling herself up into the cool room beyond.

'Where's Phoibe?' Eirene enquired, crouching in the fragrant herbs beside Aisha when she reached the garden again, who was methodically trimming a basil plant and placing the deep green leaves into a basket at her side. The black girl spun around with eyes the colour of a stormy night, as hostile as they had been the first time Eirene had met her. Eirene dropped the sprig of rosemary she had half-heartedly plucked, missing the basket.

'What?' she asked Aisha, defensively. Aisha's eyes fell to Eirene's dirt smeared hands.

'The Mistress is home,' was all she said.

'No, Alexis, I will not have it. I won't!' Liviana's sharp words reached them from the _tablinum_ , breaking the sleepy hush of the garden paradise. The girls looked at each other in alarm, startled by the distress they could hear in the voice. They sprung to their feet and kept pace with each other as they ran down the twisting mosaicked pathway, darting around the _piscana_ fountain, a rather lifelike bronze casting of a giant scaled fish that spouted water from its mouth, coming to a halt in front of the heavy, closed doors of Alexi's study that led in from the garden.

'You will not take them away from me. This isn't like you at all; I just don't understand what has gotten into you. It's this place isn't it? Rome. I told you we should have moved on, we should have left here months ago, Alexis.' Liviana's tone switched from angry to desperate to soothing as she spoke.

'It has nothing to do with Rome, Liviana,' came Alexis' solid, more rational tone. 'If you remember correctly it was you who was so keen for us to move on. Our lease terminates at the end of this week and we will leave. Everything will be staying here, as per your instructions, Liviana. Everything.' Aisha and Eirene heard Phoibe utter a half sob, half gasp through the thick door and they turned to look at each other with eyes that reflected the same fear and confusion.

'Everything but the girl,' Liviana hissed.

'Eirene, yes.'

'Why, Alexis? Why?' the Mistress painfully implored, her clear bell-like voice heavy with emotion.

'You know my reason, Liviana. We shall not speak of it.' His quiet words were cut off by a sudden tinkling laugh from his sister. In any other circumstances the carefree sound would have lifted the atmosphere and chased the shadows from any room. In the bright heat of the sun warmed garden however, following Alexis' words, it merely highlighted the cold hand of dread that had settled around the hearts of the two girls.

'You love her.' Liviana said, icily, realisation slowly creeping into her voice. 'You have fallen in love with her, Alexis, haven't you? Haven't you Alexis?!' Aisha turned to look at Eirene again, her full pouting mouth was gaping slightly but Eirene's wide blue eyes only echoed her surprise. The door that they were listening at, their ears pressed close to the smooth wood, was suddenly pulled open from the inside to reveal the strikingly tall figure of Liviana, stunning in her shimmering silver silk. Her honey coloured hair had come loose from the pearly net that had contained it earlier and it fell in a gentle encompassing wave to her hips. To the befuddled Eirene the magnificent woman appeared to be an apparition of Diana the huntress, sheathed in silver moonbeams. She certainly had the gleam of a hunter in her eye as her golden gaze fell upon the small figure of Eirene. The Mistress' long fingers snaked out to snare themselves in Eirene's hair and the hand cupped the girls chin as her hard eyes studied Eirene's face, roaming down the curve of her neck to skim the circlet at her throat. It was an adornment, a sign of ownership that also graced Aisha and Phoibe, the latter of whom was stood to the left of the door, wringing her hands and moaning softly as her wrinkled face was twisted with worry. But Eirene's circlet was the only one that had been engraved.

' _Noli me tangere_ ,' Liviana spat through distorted lips, reading the delicate inscription on the even metal surface as it caught the sunlight. 'I should have known from the first moment. She is just like all the others. In every other city we have visited you leave behind you a used up trail of infatuated broken girls, Alexis. I'm surprised you have limited yourself to just one this time.' Her cool hands turned Eirene's face this way and that, examining her smooth skin bronzed by the Rome sun, her large cerulean eyes as dark as sapphires framed by a thick wave of curling lashes. Liviana tightened her fingers in Eirene's abundant hair, such a heavy shade of brown it appeared almost black as it fell past her shoulders in tousled tangles. 'There is an unremarkable earthly beauty about her, I agree, but she is no different to any of the other woman you have had in your time here.'

' _Petra_!' Alexis inexplicably bellowed in a terrifying voice that made three of the four women jump. Eirene's heart raced, her scalp burning from Liviana's unrelenting grip on her hair. One of her hands was raised, covering the Mistress' hand to press it to her head and relieve the pulling. She knew it was futile to try and untangle those fingers if the vice-like grip on her chin was anything to go by. Liviana's perfectly manicured nails were digging little half-moons into her cheeks, making Eirene wince as her gaze stayed locked on the Mistress' livid eyes. Liviana hadn't so much as blinked at the incensed words from Alexis, too lost in her own outrage and disbelief.

' _Petra Quil-Ya!_ ' Alexis snarled again, softly and dangerously, his large hand shooting out to grab at a handful of Liviana's unbound hair to wind it round his palm. Phoibe wailed and Aisha hung her head silently. 'Let go of her. It is done. The women will go to Senator Cato early this evening.' Liviana released Eirene, who darted quickly through the door to throw her arms around the sobbing Phoibe, seeking to soothe and to comfort before she could be grabbed again. Liviana spun to face Alexis, her silken hair slipping from his grasp like dew from a petal as she beat her fists fiercely on his broad chest.

'Why? Why?!' she cried. Although she almost matched her brother in height Liviana evidently did not possess his strength as Alexis easily held her at arm's length to prevent any more pummels from her fists landing on his torso.

'We will speak of this no more. It is done.' He said with an air of finality. Liviana fell still instantly, her lovely face impassive with only the slightest of furrows marking her brow as though they had been merely disagreeing on the weather.

'So this is the secret business you've been doing is it? Breaking my heart behind my back, brother?' Liviana asked quietly, her voice settled back to its usual level pitch.

'We both know you have no heart, sister.' Alexis retorted as he turned away from the strikingly beautiful blonde to walk back into his study. 'Eirene, come,' he said without waiting to see if the girl would follow him as he continued through the doorway and disappeared through the curtain and into the atrium. Eirene gave Phoibe's shoulders one last squeeze and shot a fleeting look over at Aisha, who was too busy trying to console the Mistress in much the same way, before she slipped out in Alexis' wake. He was pacing, tall and imposing, in front of the trickling dolphin fountain. The fading afternoon light that spilled abundantly through the open roof gilded the water and sent it sparkling as it tumbled from the dolphin to the pool into the wide basin at the bottom. His heavy footsteps ceased as he sensed Eirene hovering a few feet behind him and he whirled around to face her, his fierce eyes softening at once. Eirene felt a hot blush rise to her cheeks, her lower lip caught between her teeth. The ferocious atmosphere that still clung to him, crackling like lightening, only seemed to enhance his strong, handsome features and Eirene suddenly felt very aware of her own awkwardness. She was instantly reminded of the time she had stood here, almost exactly in that very same spot, naked and frightened with everything about her old life stripped from her. Had it really only been a few short months since then? Now it seemed her life was teetering on the edge of being turned upside down once more.

'This is all moving faster than I had anticipated, Eirene. I am sorry for that. I wanted to speak to you before Liviana found out. She wasn't supposed to speak with Cato until later today. I will come with you to your room so you can gather your things and you will move into my room. It's probably best you stay close to me now.' Eirene shook her head silently, dazedly, sapphire eyes dizzy and confused. 'You don't want that? We will go into town then and I swear to hand you into the care of your brother, if that is what you wish. Neither of you will want for anything, I will grant you your freedom, but you must leave Rome.' He took her hand, his words as hurried as his movement as he began to pull Eirene to the villa door.

'No!' Eirene yanked her arm back from him, her bare heels sliding across the polished surface of the marbled floor. Alexis stopped and looked back at her in surprise. She was angry and confused, he could see as his eyes narrowed with a confusion of his own and his wide shoulders set with a sadness that suddenly engulfed him like a cloud at her refusal. 'Please, Master, just explain to me what's going on. I don't understand.' Alexis took her hand again and pulled her towards him suddenly, his thick arms crushing her gently to him as he lowered his angelic face to breathe in the sunny, wild scent of the garden that still clung to her dark hair.

'I've been a fool, Eirene, an ignorant fool. We have fallen too much into the way of Rome and I underestimated her intellect as easily distracted as she was by material things,' Alexis said, half to himself as he held Eirene away from the solid warmth of his body to run a hand lovingly along the side of her face, his eyes desperately searching hers for a flicker of something. 'I thought I knew your heart from the very first moment I laid eyes on you, Eirene, but if I have it wrong you must say. I was in awe of your pride, your strength as you stood on that auction block so vulnerable and alone in front of that leering, baying mob. I was sent for you, I knew you needed guidance but I didn't think for a moment you would be quite so petulant about receiving it,' he almost grinned but Eirene looked utterly bewildered, capturing his hand and trapping it beneath her own to keep it pressed to her cheek, suddenly finding herself fervent for his touch as it seemed to be the one tangible thing she could cling to as his words did little to clarify matters for her. 'It isn't just your beauty that bewitches me, Eirene. It is your entire soul, your compassion and your gentleness, as wild and untamed as it all is. I have never had the privilege to be so near to a soul as innocent and uncorrupted as yours, it is so open it is almost childlike.' His fingertips skimmed every inch of her face, over her eyes, along the delicate slope of her nose to the soft curve of her lips, Eirene's own fingers entwined with his as his hand moved to trace each feature, as though she were suddenly afraid to break contact with him. 'I want you, Eirene. Truly. Every fibre of my being burns to be near you. I couldn't bear to cause you pain, so if you do not wish to be here I must let you go, but either way I vow to keep you safe,' his voice was thick and husky, strained as Alexis fought to keep control of his emotion.

'The others, the other women,' Eirene said, her eyes still closed as she felt afraid to let Alexis see the desire his words had awoken, but she could not help but recall Liviana's mention of previous girls. Not that he had to explain himself to her, a household slave who was little more than property. But still, she found the thought of him with other women stirring the beast of jealousy in her heart.

'Mistakes I cannot undo,' Alexis answered, honestly. 'Though I wish to God I could.' Eirene nodded, lifting her head so that he could catch the spark of hurt in her understanding.

'You love me because I am here and because you are in Rome now. It will be different when you are in a new city with new women to choose from.' She bit her lip hard as the words escaped her before she had the chance to think them through. 'But know this. I am not a conquest. I have never given myself to a man and I do not intend to waste the precious gift of my purity on one who does not intend on holding my heart now and forever. I will not let the fickle emotion of desire cloud my judgement, Master.' Her eyes were like two chips of blue glass, hard and uncompromising as she stared at him.

'A wise move, little one. Very wise, nor would I want to take anything from you, ever. My love for you is real whether you are here and I am someplace else, or you are with me. I cannot escape my feelings for you. I am not perfect, I have made mistakes but one day I hope to prove to you that I am worthy of your love. I will prove to you that your heart and soul are destined to be with mine, even if it takes a lifetime.' His words were ardent and hushed so that Eirene had to lean up towards him to hear them, but the intimacy of his tone sent a shiver down her spine. 'How could he prove that?' she wondered silently, gasping as another thought suddenly flooded her mind and forced its way through the delight and uncertainty.

'Phoibe, Aisha, what of them?'

'Always thinking of others before yourself… It is safer for them to leave our household,' he answered carefully.

'Safer how? You have sold them to a beast of a man, a lecherous old drunk who will make their lives miserable. You would have done better to grant them their freedom as you threaten to do to me!'

'Threaten, Eirene?' Alexis asked with surprise at her choice of language. The girl blushed and turned away from him quickly to stare intently at the rippling surface of the pool gathered beneath the bronze dolphin.

'I don't want to leave you, Master. I wish to find my brother, with all my heart, to know that he is safe, but I also wish to stay with you.'

'And if I was to give you three wishes, Eirene, what would the third be?'

'I want one wish, Master, just one.'

'Which is what?'

'To be with you.' Her colour deepened but she turned back to face him with honest eyes.

'Then so be it,' Alexis smiled gently, reaching out to wrap his arms around her once more and his breath caught in his throat as he felt her arms creep around his waist in response, hesitant and trembling. Eirene pressed her cheek to his chest and he could feel her warm, sweet breath through the light fabric of his dalmatica. 'Do not worry about Phoibe and Aisha, they will be cared for. Phoibe has been a slave for too long to be given freedom now, it is in her blood to serve others and she would be broken without a Master. Aisha will flourish in the new household. Iulius is a good man, Eirene. His wife passed away a year ago, leaving him with three small girls to look after and no female influence in his life.'

'Iulius? But I thought you were sending them to Senator Cato?' Eirene asked in surprise, leaning back to look at him, dislodging his hand from the top of her head where it had settled with a sudden movement that caused Alexis' fingers to stroke through her tangled hair.

'I am, in a sense. Cato was my contact. I do have eyes and a lot more sense than you might credit me with, Eirene. Iulius lives outside of Rome but he has been staying with Cato for the past few days. I spent the whole of yesterday with him and his daughters, which was long enough for me to establish that he is a kind and honest man. I wouldn't have sent a dog to live with the Senator, let alone a human.'

'But I don't get why you've sent them away in the first place.' Alexis sighed heavily, sadly.

'It is bad enough that I have turned you into a pawn without tangling in another two innocent lives.' His hands moved to rest upon her shoulders as he looked straight into her eyes, the confusion she still felt reflecting in the inky depths. 'It was always our plan to move on from Rome, in fact it was my sister who at first begged for us to go. I was going to tell her about my feelings for you after we had moved on, though the plan was always to guide Phoibe and Aisha to their new home. You too have a path that should not lie with me… and so Liviana will try and use you now that she knows my true feelings for you. I can see the jealousy that has begun to consume her. She has been made weak by our gluttonous lifestyle here which is why we must move on. Once we are out of Rome and back on the path we came to follow I hope that her emotions may settle somewhat… until that point it is safer for you to stay by my side. If you want.' Eirene smiled, her skin tingling with the thought as she nodded obediently.

'Yes, Master,' she said, closing her eyes once more as she tightened her arms around him, causing Alexis to do the same. At that moment, in the thrill of the admission of his feelings for her, Eirene could think of no other place that she would rather be.


	14. Chapter 14

'Eutopia? Are you ok?' Jinn was unable to keep the concern from his voice as he knelt in front of the girl, supporting her slightly drooping head with one hand.

'I'm fine, why?' she asked, groggily, pushing Jinn's hand away and sitting up to lean at a more comfortable angle against the willow tree. Jinn settled back down beside her stretching his long legs out in front of him, seemingly at ease in the dark though the sense of apprehension he felt didn't leave him, it was obvious in the way his eyes slid to her every now and then.

Eutopia had fallen quiet for some time as their conversation had petered out, her blue eyes had become glazed and unresponsive as Jinn had crouched directly in front of her, before her eyelids had fluttered closed and she appeared to drift into a deep sleep that he couldn't seem to wake her from until she had stirred herself into consciousness.

'You sort of zoned out for a while,' he said.

'I'm tired, I probably fell asleep. Sorry,' Eutopia shrugged, unconcerned as she rubbed one hand over her eyes. She certainly seemed tired now, her shoulders hunched beneath Jinn's jumper that she still huddled beneath.

'Were you dreaming?' Jinn asked, 'You were saying something, but I couldn't quite catch it.' Eutopia frowned as snatches of broken images and half formed conversations flickered across her memory, remembered like a picture looked down upon through a rippling surface of water, though she could only have dreamt it moments ago.

'I think so… I think it's a dream I've had before, it all feels familiar.' She shook her head almost apologetically. 'I can barely remember a thing about it now though. I think I was in Italy, Rome maybe…' Eutopia tilted her head back more so that she could see the starry sky from beneath the willowy tendrils of the tree they sat beneath, closing her eyes for a moment as she imagined she could feel the caress of a distant sun on her upturned face. 'It's silly because I've never travelled further than Portsmouth,' she said with a little laugh. 'And even then I never got to see the sea. I've never seen the sea, not in real life anyway…'

'Rome?' Jinn asked abruptly, seizing the place name with interest.

'Yes. I'm only guessing it was Rome, it had that sort of feel about it. I used to dream a lot about a place like that when I was younger; people in togas, marble villas, that sort of stuff. I don't even remember studying it at school, when I bothered to go, so I've no idea where it all comes from. I did watch that film once, with that Australian bloke in a skirt and all that fighting?' She clicked her fingers in frustration as she tried to remember the name and Jinn frowned in confusion, one eyebrow raised as he looked at her.

' _Gladiator?_ ' he asked.

'With the huge wooden horse all those soldiers hid in?' Eutopia clarified.

'Uh, no. That was _Troy_ , with Brad Pitt. He isn't Australian and Russell Crowe who starred in _Gladiator_ is actually from New Zealand.' Jinn laughed softly, looking up at the sky too. 'I've been to Rome.'

'You have? Did you like it?'

'It was one of my most favourite places at the time. Italy is a beautiful country but I don't think it's somewhere I will ever go back to. It holds too many memories for me and not all of them are good ones.' He was thoughtfully quiet for a moment, before he went on to say, 'I lost someone there who meant more to me than anything,' his eyes drifted back to settle lightly on Eutopia's upturned face as she bit her lower lip.

'I'm sorry to hear that. It's awful to lose someone you love, isn't it? What happened?' she ventured. 'If you don't want to talk about it, I understand,' Eutopia added quickly, flicking her eyes back to judge Jinn's expression in the clear moonlight. She didn't much fancy another trip into the cool water of the lake but she was surprised to find a half smile on his lips.

'It's fine,' he said, softly. 'I don't mind talking about it. I know so much about you it's only fair I suppose. I met a girl in Rome. We lived together for a while; fell in love with each other. There was an accident of sorts. Divine intervention or whatever,' He waved a hand almost dismissively and Eutopia was amazed to find that at some point while they had been talking Jinn's arm had ended up settled around her shoulders without her noticing, she could feel the bunch and pull of his toned bicep as his arm flexed with his hand gesture. It surprised her more to find that the close contact with him didn't bother her, in fact it sent a little electrical thrill down her spine as she looked up to regard his striking face as he spoke.

Despite having dried out considerably from her impromptu swim, the heat from Jinn pressed close to her side was still welcomed, comforting even. 'I was stupid and reckless. I made promises I couldn't keep. If I ever have one regret in the whole of my existence it would be that. This girl, she was amazing. Passionate, kind hearted. Beautiful,' Jinn closed his eyes and a ghost of a smile lit up his face. 'There was an amazing strength about her too that I wish I could have possessed back then, so I could at least have been honest with her from the start instead of trying to protect her with lies that broke her heart. If I could have owned just a fraction of the strength it took for her to get from day to day then maybe things might have turned out a little differently.'

'But you were trying to protect her. Did she know that?' Eutopia asked, hesitantly. There was no distress in Jinn's voice as he spoke; he owned a calmness that comes from reminiscing on happier times.

'I think so. I just wanted to do what was right for us; I wanted to protect her from everyone around us, to keep her safe…. Sometimes though, no matter how hard you try, life has its own ideas.'

'That's awful, it must have been really hard for you,' Eutopia's brows drew together in a sad line for a moment as she thought on Jinn's words. 'I know what you mean about life having its own ideas though. My life definitely has its own agenda from the looks of things; nothing ever seems to go the way I planned it to. I suppose it's just God's way of keeping himself amused.'

Jinn gave her an odd look that Eutopia couldn't quite make out.

'Do you believe in God?' he asked.

'A little bit, I suppose. There has to be something, some sort of great power out there,' she motioned to the huge velvety sky above them, scattered with pinpoints of light that twinkled through the gaps of the branches around them. Eutopia had no idea what time it was but the gentle nocturnal sounds that had been busy around them since they had settled beneath the tree had at some point died down. All she could hear now was the hushed sound of their breathing. 'I'm not sure I believe in the whole bearded man in a white dress thing. I see God as more of a type of energy, like a presence that's just there in all things, does that make sense?'

Jinn nodded. 'Yes, it does.'

'I suppose I believe in fate and destiny,' she said with slow cautiousness, 'When I look back at parts of my life, even the bad bits, I can see how the past affects the future, you know? Everything that's happened throughout the twenty years of my life has made me the person I am now. I think that everything happens for a reason. We all have a journey set out for us and sometimes we might take a different path, but eventually we get to wherever it is that we're meant to be going. I definitely believe in that.' Jinn laughed softly.

'I have a friend with that very same opinion,' he said, dark eyes twinkling. 'I see where you're coming from, though. If I hadn't been out in Covent Garden that night, I would never have met you.' Eutopia couldn't keep the blush from rising to her cheeks as their eyes met and her mind flashed random images at her of that dank, dirty side street and waiting headlights piercing the darkness, she could feel the dizzying sickness that came from feeling scared and alone as sour, cigarette-tainted breath scorched her skin and rough hands groped at the thin fabric of her clothes. Her stomach flipped at the sudden thought of how close she may have come to some other, much more unpleasant ending. Jinn could feel the tenseness that had crept into Eutopia's shoulders and he saw the tightness in her jaw.

'You were my guardian angel that night,' she said, softly, closing her eyes and leaning into the arm that Jinn still had slung casually around her. 'I can see that now. I'm sorry for shouting at you. I just want to do what's right and find my brother. He's the only link to my family, to my mother.'

'You think that finding your brother might help you to make sense of your life so far,' Jinn stated, carefully taking Eutopia's hand to push up her sleeve and dance his fingers across her silver scars, causing her to take a sharp intake of breath as his touch sent little tingles of anticipation racing over her skin.

'Yes,' she breathed, her heart aching as fiercely as though he had reached a fist into her chest and squeezed it, his words summing up what she hadn't quite managed to explain to herself yet. For the past two years she had slaved away mindlessly for minimum wage with only one goal in mind, without really understanding exactly why it was so important. But Jinn could see.

'You feel he owes it to you to protect you now, to make up for the things he couldn't shield you from before.' Eutopia nodded, her lips brushing Jinn's as he leaned in close enough to kiss her and her eyelashes curled upon her wet cheeks. 'I can protect you, if you let me,' he murmured, letting his lips press lightly against Eutopia's. She allowed the sweet warmth of his mouth to linger against hers, his closeness sending dizzying waves of emotion crashing through her. The increased beating of her heart, sent galloping as Jinn had leant towards her, faltered in its rhythm as a thread of realisation clung to her rapidly spiralling thoughts.

'I know you,' she uttered in one hushed breath, eyelashes parting enough to allow her to see the shock that registered in Jinn's eyes. He pulled away from her and Eutopia immediately felt a chill creep into the void where the warmth of his solid frame had been only moments before. Was that a smile she could see on his lips?

'Do you?' he asked, words spoken as softly as their mouths had met, his eyes as black as onyx.

'Yes,' with a hesitant breath Eutopia leant in close to the motionless Jinn, lips parted uncertainly and her eyes open to watch for his reaction and she very gently, cautiously, kissed him. A sharp gasp escaped her as a stream of images passed through her mind's eye as clear as though they were being played on a movie screen and she snapped back from him in an instant. 'My dream… the dreams… It's you.'


	15. Chapter 15

Eirene never had the chance to say goodbye to the wrinkled old Phoibe, browned and twisted with age and plump with the extravagant lifestyle she had shared with the Master and Mistress, before she and Aisha were escorted to Senator Cato's later that same day by Liviana or so Eirene assumed. Alexis had retreated to his cubiculum following the scene that had spilled from his study and into the garden and Eirene had remained at his side. She had declined the offer for him to accompany her to her room to gather her things, since she had no things to gather now that her nightingale was gone. Besides, she didn't think she could bear the sight of Aisha's perfectly made bed that would never again be slept in. To Eirene's mind the girl had already been folded carefully into the creases of her heart, along with her mother, the old scholar and the little brown bird.

'Is she angry?' Eirene asked into the dusk soaked silence that seeped in through the bare window of the large but simply furnished room. Alexis was perched on the edge of his raised bed, the frame of which was cast in shining bronze, polished to the burnished tones of sunlight on autumn leaves, scowling darkly at an official looking scroll which was embossed with two thick words that she couldn't make out from where she remained sprawled out at his feet. Eirene had busied herself copying words with painstaking precision from a piece of papyrus that he had inked them on, onto a wax tablet, in the hope that keeping her mind occupied would fend off the sadness she felt at losing the closest thing she'd had to a friend since being separated from her brother. Eirene had made such a mess with the ink when Alexis had first taught her to write that he had resorted to directing her to the much cleaner, if less impressive, scribing onto wax. He lowered the scroll to look at her and she thought she caught sight of a flicker of worry in his eyes.

'More at me I think, rather than you,' Alexis almost soothed, without having to clarify which 'she' it was that Eirene was talking about. He tossed the papyrus to one side, letting the sheaf curl gently upon itself as it fell to the floor. Eirene sat up; laying down the stylus she had been using to carve her clumsy words into the soft surface of the wax as she watched Alexis pace the length of the room. An ethereal nymph, lithe and graceful as she peeked from between the boughs of a tree surveyed Eirene and Alexis with flat, painted eyes from the mural that graced the wall, running the whole length and width of the room in a swirling riot of greens and browns and pale yellows. Eirene had never seen the inside of her Master's room until then and at first the fresh colours had induced a sense of outdoor freedom and merriment, which she supposed was the desired effect. Though as the minutes had slipped by to morph into hours, consumed as they were by careful studying, Eirene had found the expanse of green foliage oppressing, a constant and unfriendly reminder that she was not actually outside. The nymphs that she caught sight of here and there between the trees, frozen forever in time by the artist's hand, became mocking, all traces of the beauty she had first associated with them was drained from their painted faces with each moment she was contained by those four walls. 'It is still best if we give her space to gather her thoughts for now. She will still be sore that I sent Phoibe and Aisha away, but once we are out of Rome she will no doubt find some new distraction that will detract from the lure of being waited upon hand and foot.' He sighed heavily, running a hand through his short, black hair as though trying to dislodge some other thought from his mind with the gesture, coming to rest in a backless wooden seat that curved up into elaborate scrolls on either side to enable him to rest his arms, crooked at the elbow.

'My brother?' Eirene asked, half hesitant, half demanding as she shoved the wax tablet to one side and raised herself up onto her knees. 'You promised you would help me look for him before we leave.' Alexis gave her a long studious look, his chin resting on one hand as he took in the sudden flare of passion that sharpened Eirene's tone.

'Yes, I did. I will hold to that promise, Eirene, don't think for a second that I won't.' He looked thoughtful as his gaze drifted to the papyrus he had let drop to the floor moments earlier. 'But we will go tonight. I have a feeling that Liviana will want to stay at Senator Cato's this evening since he will no doubt provide her with the utmost sympathy and have his household bending backwards to please her.' There was a stiff resolution in his eyes as he stood to cast a glance out of the window where the hazy purple of dusk was darkening slowly, allowing deeper tones of blue to layer the shadows that crept into the garden beyond. 'You need to be outside,' he said softly as he stood again and moved to the doorway. It wasn't a question. Alexis had seen how the bright awe that first burned in Eirene's eyes had edged into bitter resentment as she looked up at the mural again and again. The girl ducked her head at his observation.

'I've never been very good at staying inside for long periods of time,' she admitted. 'I need space and air; it's what makes me feel alive.'

'I can see that,' Alexis remarked with a smirk as Eirene practically flung herself at the door in her haste to escape the oppressing nymph scene on the four walls that had been slowly pressing in on her. 'Steady, steady,' he said, reaching out a hand to untangle the wisp of a curtain that had somehow trapped Eirene in its billowing folds. 'The garden will still be there Eirene, whether you take my curtain with you or not,' he smiled, holding the sheer fabric to one side so that she could step through the doorway.

'I know I'm just worried that if I stay here any longer you'll force me to re-write the words I've just spent all that time copying, Master. The use of a wax tablet hasn't improved my penmanship a jot,' Eirene retorted, before turning from him and skipping down the cool corridor to breeze into his study and then out through the wooden shutter that was the shortest route to the outside she had found.

Night had stalked softy around the villa to settle itself firmly in the centre of the colonnaded garden, the downy silence lending comfort and a thrill to Eirene's thought that she was totally alone with Alexis. Though she had seen little more than one corridor and Alexis' study on her journey to the outside, Eirene could tell that Liviana was not yet home. It was more a sense of atmosphere, a deep knowing, rather than a certainty, but it was enough. The sweet scent of honeysuckle, light and delicious, drifted to her as she made her way to the stone bench set sturdily beneath a young apple tree. The seat was cool and smooth beneath her palm as she ran a hand over the veined marble.

'I know she frightens you,' Alexis voice as sleek as the polished stone beneath her fingertips, yet warmer, startled her. Eirene hadn't heard him following so close behind though she knew he must have been as he had not left her side since Liviana had left with the two other slaves. Her chin was raised in stubborn defiance as she turned to face him, wild hair cascading over her thin shoulders like a shadowy cloak.

'She does not!' Alexis sat himself on the bench and reached out to pull Eirene down beside him, laying a gentle finger on her lips to stem her protest.

'Perhaps that was the wrong choice of words. I can see that she unsettles you; my sister's presence is enough to unsettle a gladiator. But she will not harm you, Eirene.' Her sapphire eyes met his and Alexis must have caught her slight flinch as Eirene remembered the lick of Liviana's razor-like whip on her back, as his already dark eyes turned as black as the night around them. 'Believe me when I tell you that you are very dear to me, Eirene, Liviana will never lay another finger on you. I promise you that. You are my purpose, my destiny now, dear heart.' His lips warm and gentle were at her ear, his whispered words sending a trickle of pleasure along the arch of her spine. But she pulled away from him to catch his hands in her own and hold them in her lap, their tangled digits as white and pale as the moonlight that spilled upon them, her gaze was both curious and hopeful.

'You don't know me, how can I be dear to you?'

'I could ask you the very same question,' Alexis grinned, raising his hand to lightly brush Eirene's blushing cheek. 'You followed me without question.'

'I am nothing but an obedient slave, Master,' she said.

'When it pleases you,' Alexis smiled, wryly, his fingertips caressing her wrist, dancing lightly over the smooth skin of Eirene's bare arm and making her shiver. 'I know more about you than you might think. I know you're a beautiful and compassionate woman. You're intelligent and honest with a passion for life that leaves me breathless. Even when the world turns the cruellest hand to you, you pick yourself up and carry on. I've seen enough of Rome by now to know how merciless this world can be, but there is compassion in you, a bright flame in your heart that I swear to protect. You are so unlike anyone I've ever had the chance to meet.' His words pleased Eirene, though flustered her to the point where she could no longer let her eyes rest upon his.

'What makes you so certain your brother is in Rome, Eirene?' he asked, breaking the thoughtfully long silence as he lifted a hand to lightly caress her chin.

'I just don't believe that he would have left without me,' Eirene replied simply with the slightest shrug of her shoulders, reaching up to take his hand again and entwine her delicate fingers with his. Their hands came to rest upon the bench between them, skin as smooth and pale as the white marble as she regarded them silently for a moment. 'You don't think he's here, do you?' she asked Alexis quietly.

'I just think that if he was still in this city, you would have found him by now. How many times have you been out there looking for him in the months you've been here with me? I know you're stubborn enough not to give up easily. If your brother was still around here, Eirene, you would have found him by now I feel certain of that. Perhaps it's time to move on?' he suggested, hesitantly, 'I promise we will return at once if all else fails, but I just believe that if your brother has youth and strength on his side he may have been sent out to the fields to work, or even to the docks to haul the imports.' Eirene nodded, having been thinking the very same thing.

'I did wonder that myself,' she sighed, looking up at the clear night sky as the sheer shadow cast by the apple tree beside them darkened her face.

'There are many routes in and out of Rome, but I think we should follow the road out to Ostia.'

'The port?' Eirene asked with a note of surprise.

'It's the busiest trade route, I know that many slaves get sent there to work the docks. It's worth a try. And there is nothing to stop us from coming back and trying a different route another time. Ostia isn't far from here; we could probably make the journey on foot in half a day.' Eirene nodded her agreement.

'Yes, Master.' Alexis stood up.

'I will gather some things we may need, we will leave at once.' Eirene jumped to her feet too, a ripple of excitement flashing through her at the sudden promise of action. 'Don't worry about clothes; we can buy new ones on the way. Is there anything else you would like to bring?'

'No, I have nothing,' she said. Alexis eyed Eirene for a moment, seemingly contemplating her simple statement before he nodded and she continued, 'But what about the Mistress? Will we not wait for her to return before we leave?'

'My sister is capable of looking after herself, she will stay at Cato's no doubt for as long as she can milk his sympathy and admiration so I think it highly unlikely that we will see her for a while.' His gaze was flinty and his tone bitter as he ran a hand through his short, dark hair. 'We'll go back through the study and I'll leave her a note. I know Liviana will be too proud to follow me for the moment, I have hurt her deeply. I suspect she will wait here for my return.'

'But this villa, you said we had to leave it soon, where will she go then?' Alexis raised a heavy brow at the concern in Eirene's voice.

'Liviana can fend well enough for herself, Eirene, please don't worry about her. So, are you happy for us to leave now?'

'Of course!' Eirene was on her feet at once, the thrill of action tingling through her veins. After so many long months of fruitless searching on her own she felt as though they might actually achieve something together. Although Eirene was able to move through the city without drawing attention to herself as she could be any one of a number of slaves out on an errand for her master, but Alexis' status and wealth might open more doors for her that would otherwise be closed. The tall, broad figure of Alexis led the way back down the stone path, his bulk blocking out a section of moonlight to cast a thick shadow upon the ground as they walked back into his study. He located a pen and a pot of dark ink beneath the mass of papyrus and scrolls that lay haphazardly over his desk top and twitched a sheaf towards him, turning it over to write on the clean side. Eirene drifted over to the wide shelves that lined one wall of the room, towering higher than she could reach to spill tightly rolled scrolls squashed between stacks of flattened papyrus and loose sheaves that draped themselves down onto the shelf below. Her fingertips fluttered gently over them, awe catching at her breath as she realised just how much knowledge lay nestled amongst those cryptic patterns that formed words and sentences.

'You aren't taking any of these?' Eirene asked a little sadly. Since Alexis had been teaching her to read he had awoken a deep passion for knowledge in the girl that had previously began to settle into submissive dormancy so now, to leave behind so much of the written word when reading material was hard to come by seemed to her a heinous crime. He looked up for a moment to see what Eirene was talking about, frowning at the few lines he had written.

'No, I've read them. Feel free to take anything you like,' Alexis said without looking up, as he signed off his note to Liviana with a flourish.

M _eus carus Petra, ego evestigatus meus fatum. Eirene. Usquequaque vestri frater,_ _Jinn Quil-Ya_


	16. Chapter 16

Jinn took Eutopia's face with tender hands and his eyes were smouldering coals.

'You dream of me?' he asked with a serene tone that didn't match his intense expression. Eutopia nodded, sliding her palm over the back of one of his hands as they lay hot against her skin.

'Yes,' she breathed, sapphire eyes searching his in the hope of finding some unspoken answer in the depths of Jinn's steady indigo gaze.

'I thought you did,' he smiled, offering no further explanation.

'But I don't understand,' Eutopia said, sitting up and turning to face him, pushing herself off from the knobbly bark of the willow tree behind her that she could feel through the thickness of Jinn's hoodie she still wore. 'I don't get it. My dreams… they're just dreams,' she shook her head, causing tangled tresses, dry from the lake water now and half restrained by her ponytail to fall around delicate features that were puckered with bewilderment. Jinn's hand left her cheek to brush lightly at a fallen lock of hair, his eyes lowered to study the way the ends curled around his fingertip in thoughtful silence for a long time.

'Do you remember that conversation we had not so long ago, about how you wished you were from some other place, some other time?' he ventured. Eutopia narrowed her eyes, taking him in at an angle as though his profile might reveal the hint of a lie, or at least some sort of humour in his words as she sensed what was coming. 'Well you are,' he finished simply.

'What?' Eutopia asked with disbelief, feeling her scepticism obvious in the set of her jaw.

'You have lived before. A long time ago,' Jinn could see that he was losing her, the incredulity etched in every line of Eutopia's frame as she raised herself to her knees with muscles tensed and ready to catapult her away from him for the third time that night. Did she never get tired of running, he wondered? She was like a skittish woodland creature whose first reaction to anything new and uncertain was to bolt. Preserve the self. Jinn could understand that but he had waited so long, _so long_ for this moment, he couldn't let it slide now. As much as he hated to prevent her from anything, to fight against her instincts, his fingers closed lightly around her wrist. 'Please, just hear me out.' Jinn sensed her hesitation and imagined he saw her make an effort to smooth her bristling at his restraining hand and so he continued quickly, his words tumbling over one another to begin with in his urgency to keep her attention. 'It was 314 AD, Constantine the Great was Emperor, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity after winning a battle following a dream he'd had in which God had told him he would win. My name was Alexis back then and Liviana, my sister for all intents and purposes, and I, we had it made! We were new and exotic, welcomed into Rome with open and curious arms at a time when newness was invited. The old gods were still very much worshipped but there was a niche for us. At first we sat back, observing the Roman way of life from a distance until we gradually immersed ourselves completely into the culture. We rented a villa, one of the most luxurious that money could buy and we threw ourselves into being like them, so much so that we lost our way. Liviana became consumed by the material lifestyle, her sight misted by all that glittered and her tongue sharpened on the backs of our slaves and their idolisation of her.'

'Whoa,' Eutopia interrupted, fingers pressed against her forehead in a bid to smooth the frown lines that creased her brow, 'whoa, whoa, whoa. Just stop.' Jinn did as she asked; his hands lay impassive, clasping each other as his huge forearms rested on his thighs. 'Slaves?' Eutopia asked, cocking a brow quizzically, 'Rome, 314AD? You seriously think I'm going to buy into your kinky historical stories, Mr Fifty Shades? You sound like the voice over for some cheap SciFi flick.' She seemed half amused as her lips curled gently up into a tiny smile. 'So what, I was one of those slaves and you were my Master, which is why I've been dreaming about you and you seem so freakishly familiar to me?'

'Yes,' Jinn said without hesitation, no hint of a jest. 'Liviana wasn't the only guardian to lose her way, though.'

'Guardian?' she frowned at the term though the word echoed somewhere deep within her, striking hollowly against her mind. Jinn turned a beseeching expression upon her that was so imploring that it caught the breath in her throat. His eyes glittered, as dark and as smooth as the surface of the lake that lay a few feet away from them, undisturbed as yet by the scraggly looking fox that slunk closer to the water's edge with one wary eye on the two figures that remained otherwise motionless. Eutopia fell silent.

'We were both too easily distracted, like magpies to silver,' he continued, ignoring her question as though she hadn't asked it and he looked up to find her gaze fixed on a point in the middle distance. Her eyes were narrowed ever so slightly though her head was tilted as though to catch every word. 'Greed and jealousy were the weaknesses of my sister but I was overwhelmed with love and desire for you, from the very first moment I saw you. You were never part of the plan in that respect but from the day I was drawn to you, you _became_ the plan. You were utterly beautiful, eyes as dark as a clear night sky, hair as soft and as untamed as your heart and your soul was the purest I had ever come across in all my existence. Over sixteen hundred years hasn't changed any of that,' he laughed softly into the gentle darkness that was slowly lightening to an inky blue around them as Eutopia felt a blush staining her cheeks.

'How did we meet?' she asked in a hushed, captivated tone, dragging her attention from the watchful animal at the lakes edge who, having drank its fill, lifted its slender muzzle to sniff at the air and turn on its bedraggled tail before slinking off out of sight into a low evergreen shrub, a speck of rust against the shadowy brush. A vague picture began to form in her mind with Jinn's words. Perhaps it was her existing belief in some form of reincarnation that left her susceptible to his story weaving, but in the half-light of the little clearing in the wake of so many dreams of that strange and almost forgotten land, his explanation rang with the sound of truth, however slim. At least to some part of her. A mirage of those misty visions shimmered tantalizingly at her memory, teasing at the edges but never stepping close enough for Eutopia to grab them and drag them into clarity.

'At an auction in the marketplace. I didn't know what the pull was at that time but I suppose I should have guessed it would be to find my new assignment. It wasn't like me at all to visit the slave auctions but it had become Liviana's favourite way to spend her mornings. She had already acquired two women who provided the utmost adoration for her, women she was meant to be helping, and she didn't believe she could tolerate the attention of a third but that didn't prevent her from visiting that soulless place day after day, if only to draw the crowds eyes to her and to revel in her own Earthly fortune. That day I'd set out alone without any real intention or purpose, just followed my feet until I came across the throng of people amassed around a little platform. I could feel the tension thick in the air, sharp and acrid above the fetid scent of despair that always clung to that place. There was a sweeter smell though that I could sense beneath the rottenness. Hope. Expectation. Perhaps it was that which drew me in… I was always a sucker for a positive slant on things.' He chuckled gently. 'The price for you was high, higher than usual for a scrawny dark haired girl when the fair skinned and golden haired slaves were in fashion. The men in the crowd pushed closer to where you stood, jostling each other in an attempt to get their bids acknowledged. I had to push my way through the throng to get a bit closer and find out what all the fuss was about. When I saw you I knew I couldn't walk away without you by my side, I'd been sent for you. You were so… exposed, so defenceless standing there amongst that baying mob scrabbling to own your flesh but I never once saw a flicker of fear in your eyes. There was aloofness to you, a sort of indifference rather than a submission to your situation that I found fascinating. I doubled the asking price for you,' a ghost of a smile lifted Jinn's lips and softened his eyes as he looked up at Eutopia.

'And we lived happily ever after?' she almost scoffed as the spell Jinn had woven with the thread of his words petered out, though her tone was half hopeful. Jinn shook his head slowly, twitching it first to one side and then to the other. 'Not exactly,' he said.

'The girl, the one you loved in Rome… That was me…' Jinn could practically see the piece drop into place as Eutopia made the connection. The skin tightened around his eyes as pain sharpened his perfect features that were brought further into relief by the lightening of the clearing as dawn edged closer around them. Somewhere nearby Eutopia could hear the sharp, eerie barking of a fox cub, a piercing wail so like that of a human child that it caused the downy hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. The hidden cub was no doubt calling for an early breakfast before it would settle back into the warmth of its den to sleep the oncoming day away. She absently wondered if the skinny fox she had seen drinking moments before would be the one to answer that call with a rabbit, still twitching and hot from its pursuit through the undergrowth. Right now she felt like she imagined that rabbit would. Her heart beat ten to the dozen, thudding inexplicably as her rationale wrestled with her sentiment. Did she want this to be true? Past lives had interested her for as long as she could remember, it had always seemed like such a romantic and idealistic notion. Imagine being able to have a second or even third attempt at life! But did she truly believe it? She wasn't quite sure.

'And you?' she asked, quietly, 'how many times have you lived before?'

'Only once. Just this one existence I've been leading. I was created at the dawn of time to help guide you humans through life. All of us angels were. That's how I ended up in Rome in the first place, I was sent to help you, but instead I ended up falling in love with you which didn't go down too well with the hierarchy and so I was cast out, unable to return until I do my duty. '

'Your duty? And what would that be?'

'To guide you along the path that has been chosen for you.'

'And just where does that path lead, exactly?' Eutopia asked, carefully.

'It's not the destination that matters so much,' Jinn answered with deep sincerity, 'it's the journey.' He scooped up Eutopia's hand and lifted it to his lips, grazing her knuckles lightly so that she could feel his soft, warm breath on her skin.

'Oh!' she murmured, feeling her insides fluttering like so many moths drawn to the flame that was the bright spark in his eyes.

'And that's a journey I can now complete with you, dear heart, now that I have found you once more.' Like little kisses from a summer breeze she felt his lips brush over the intimate flesh of her inner arm, his hand again pushing up the sleeve of his jumper that she still wore to expose the skin and trail his mouth delicately over the silvered scars of her past.

'Why couldn't you have found me sooner?' Eutopia asked in a whisper, feeling her heart swell as his words, his lips lay like a gentle balm against her skin, wrapping comfortably around her as the ruby dawn burnished everything it could reach, staining the lake just a stone's throw away from them.

'It was impossible for me to find you until you reached the point in this life that I came across you in your previous life. I've had to wait a long time, an incredibly long time for your soul to regenerate, for you to grow into the person you are now and you wouldn't be who you are without all that you have already suffered as you have already said.' His voice was strained, his fingertips again skimming over the faint lines that marred her otherwise smooth skin. 'It pains me so much to know how much you've endured in my absence. Believe me, Eutopia, if I could have been there from day one of this life to protect you, I would have been there,' Jinn's eyes blazed with a passion that she felt, hot and tangible in the misty dawn air around them. 'Unfortunately I am still bound by some laws of my kind, at least for the moment.' He nodded faintly at the range of emotions that flickered across Eutopia's face as he spoke, he could feel her bewilderment, confusion and something else… was it hope, hope that all he said was true? Eutopia was unsure herself at that moment.

'This is a lot to take in,' she said, her eyes on the translucent mist that crept and swirled around them and seemed to rise in little wisps from the dew that dampened the ground, scattered like stardust at their feet. 'It's not that I don't believe… I want to believe, more than you know! But, it just sounds so…'

'Far-fetched?' he asked, one eyebrow cocked as a hint of a smile tugged at his lips.

'Yes.' Eutopia gave a hugely deep sigh that caused her shoulders to slump as questions fluttered, half-formed and un-asked, in the recesses of her mind, twisting with the enticing recollections of her recurring dreams. They glimmered and merged with the pictures his words had conjured, as ethereal as the stirring daylight in the clearing. The birds began to sing; a tremulous, shivering sound.

'Then come back to the house with me, think it over before you decide anything now,' Jinn said, extending his hand to Eutopia as he stood up with easy grace. Eutopia contemplated the open palm for a moment, her eyes dark and thoughtful, before she stretched out her own to allow Jinn's long fingers to enfold hers as he pulled her, stiffly, to her feet.


	17. Chapter 17

Eirene could smell the Tiber already, dank and heavy on the cool dawn breeze. She often thought that if a scent had a colour then the smell of the river Tiber would be as yellow as the water itself, a sickly and unhealthy shade. Alexis startled her as he came to settle himself beside her beneath the leafy boughs of a myrtle tree where she had sat for a few moments to rest her feet.

'You can go on, I just need a minute,' Eirene insisted, rubbing the soles of both of her bare feet to relieve them of the debris from the road. Though she had never worn shoes her feet were soft from a mostly indoor life. She had never walked as far or for as long as she had walked that night.

'We have walked for the past three hours without stopping,' Alexis said, motioning to the glowing dawn that had crept around them and lightened the clear sky above. 'I think a little break is a good idea.' He watched as Eirene inspected the gaps between her toes, picking out small stones to flick them away with irritation. 'We will get you some sandals in Ostia. I'm sorry I never thought to get you anything before we left.'

'I'm not sure I could walk in sandals, Master.'

'Alexis, please, Eirene. You do not have to address me so formally,' he smiled, ignoring the dirt as he took the left one in his warm hands and rubbed the ache from the ball of Eirene's foot. Eirene blushed deeply and stood up. 'Are you hungry?' he asked, looking up at her. 'Perhaps we should find something to eat. The river is close, I'm sure I could catch a fish or two.' Alexis grinned as he stood up too.

'I think we should keep going. Ostia must be near,' Eirene said as she struck out to walk again. Though her feet were sore, the left one burned from his touch that had deepened the colour in her cheeks, she could still feel his skin soft against hers and she set off with a quick and determined pace.

'What's the hurry?' Alexis called.

'I don't think we should slow down now, not when we're so near. I can almost smell the sea,' Eirene said, glancing over her shoulder as she made her way further down the wide path of compacted earth, worn hard and smooth by many travelling feet before theirs. The crisp dawn air was fresh, cooling against her face that felt hot from the unbroken pace they had kept since leaving Rome. From the cloudless look of the sky the day promised to be another bright and warm one, giving little hint of the autumn season that lurked only a few weeks away. She turned back as the deep rumble of Alexis' laugh reached her, finding his towering frame silhouetted by the lush greenery around him. 'What?' she demanded with a petulant tone that was sharper than she intended it to be, her eagerness to reach the port and her aching feet fraying her usually smooth temperament.

'Ostia will still be there, whether you starve or die of weariness, O arduous one.' He remained stood beneath the bowing branches of the tree drenched temptingly in the cool shade with his feet planted firmly and his arms crossed. It was clear to Eirene that he was not planning to move any time soon. Already she could feel the early rays of the sun piercing through the freshness of the morning and she did not really relish the thought of setting out into the relentless heat that was sure to follow the dawn. The verdant shade was definitely appealing, more so with him stood dappled with myrtle-shadow, wearing a half-teasing and half concerned smile. But on the other hand… she closed the distance between them quickly and Alexis could see the slightly wild look in her eyes, her tone hushed as though afraid of being overheard by someone, so that he had to incline his head towards her.

'A lion, Master!'

Alexis had the grace to look politely puzzled as he blinked at her. 'What?'

'A lion!' her eyes darted from side to side, swiftly sweeping the low scraggly bushes and the sparse trees that surrounded the path they were following as though she expected to see one slink into view any moment. 'You haven't heard about the lion that roams the paths around here? A few escaped from the _Amphitheatrum_ a long time ago, wild beasts captured and brought in from Africa for the Emperors lavish animal hunts and to offer fierce opponents to the gladiators when their fights grew a little dull. Most were hunted down, slaughtered in the streets but one escaped. My old Master used to hear reports of sightings along this road, travellers disappearing.' Eirene gestured the length of the path they had been following, her arms sweeping to encompass the snaking way ahead. 'It was his dream to develop some sort of trap for it, he was convinced he could tame it with enough love and keep it as a pet.' Alexis' laughter rolled easily from his throat again as his eyes twinkled kindly.

'Like he tamed you, Eirene?' His fingertips brushed the hair from her cheek curling it carefully over one of her ears as he smiled.

'I was never 'tamed', Master. I was born into slavery.'

'The scholar, Horace, he was your father?' Alexis seemed surprised, his eyebrows arching high. 'I have learnt less of Rome than I believed in the time that I've been here…' He looked wonderingly at Eirene who in turn looked wonderingly at him, taken aback by his amazement at her revelation.

'That is a surprise for you?'

'It's a shock, actually, Eirene.' Alexis shook his head a little. 'I thought I knew everything there was to know about slavery in Rome but I never knew that. I can't say that I understand the concept of owning another person, let alone enslaving your own flesh and blood. All people are made equal and therefore deserve mutual respect.' It was Eirene's turn to look stunned and she too shook her head in disbelief.

'Your presence at the market and my purchase was a figment of my imagination then, _Master_?' she enquired with an innocent tilt of her head, though the emphasis on her last word was teasing. Alexis ran a hand through his short, dark hair and let a frown wrinkle his brow as he thought for a moment.

'Not at all. But my reasons for your… purchase,' Alexis grimaced at the word, 'were different. Adverse to the usual and laborious reasons I would think.' His frown was reflected on Eirene's face as she thought of all the household chores that she had split with Phoibe and Aisha.

'So what were your reasons?' she asked. Alexis sat with his back leaning against the trunk of the myrtle tree and reached up to tug gently on Eirene's hand causing her to sit down beside him. Such close proximity to him made the tiny hairs on her skin stand on end and a delicious shiver ran down her spine.

'To guide you.'

'Guide me?' Eirene looked confused.

'There is something I need to tell you that you might find very difficult to understand.'

'I find most things you say to me difficult to understand actually.'

Alexis gave her half a smile.

'This might be particularly difficult though, Eirene, because our beliefs are not the same.' He ploughed on, noticing the confusion that was already clouding the girls face. 'You believe there are many gods each responsible for an area of your life that need appeasing in some way or other or else they will wreak havoc in their displeasure.' Eirene smiled at the simplified summing up of her religion.

'Sort of, yes.'

'Well our beliefs follow a similar thread in that I know that everything has an energy; every tree that shelters us and provides fruit, each leaf that whispers with the breeze, every tiny insect, bird and person. All things pulse with life and all life is created by a much larger energy force, a being so powerful that most humans find it hard to comprehend. This power is all encompassing; it is mother, father, god and goddess all in one deity. Your separate gods all combined. Your people are not wrong in their beliefs but they are not totally right either.' Alexis paused for a moment, contemplating Eirene's passive expression as she listened to him. What Alexis was telling her wasn't completely new to her as she had heard something similar from old Phoibe who had resided with the Master and Mistress for quite a while and had begun to spout their beliefs occasionally. 'Have you heard of Christianity, Eirene?' he asked her.

'Yes, I have,' she nodded slowly, remembering the name for the new religion that had been bandied about in the City whilst she had been out and about at night, searching for Germanus. 'It's the belief that there is one God, the almighty Father.'

'Well, I suppose that is it to an extent and Christianity is the one religion that almost, but not completely, has the right idea so far. It is easier to refer to God as a Father because that is the way most people who believe it perceive this element of huge power to be portrayed. In a way, it's easier for your people to get their minds around it, being a very visual lot. You like images to worship.'

'I suppose we do…' Eirene's brows were knitted together in concentration as she tried to make sense of his words. Her fingers absently trailed over the cool grass around her as she moved her arms back and forth in little arcs, letting the tiny blades caress her palms. It was soothing, the rhythmical caress of the grass on her skin as something about what Alexis had said struck her as a bit odd. 'You say 'your people' like you aren't included.'

'I'm not,' Alexis gave her a little smile though his eyes took on a wary, watching light as they did not move from her face. 'I'm a guardian. I told you that.'

'You said you purchased me, as a slave, to guide me. What did you mean by that?' her hands came to rest in her lap, her legs tucked neatly beneath her as she knelt beside Alexis though her eyes remained cast down at the grass, following a thin trail of ants that trickled in a steady stream along a path that only they could see as they marched on importantly. 'You said you have feelings for me.' Her cheeks filled instantly with colour, hot and pink, and her tone was almost accusatory as neither of them had mentioned what had passed between them in the atrium that night. Though Eirene often thought about it, the memory of his strong hands on her face, his warm and solid body hard against her own were burned forever into her memory. One of those large hands reached out now to curl over both of Eirene's as they lay inanimate upon her knees, Alexis used his other hand to gently tip her head up so that he could see her blue eyes.

'Yes, I said those things. And yes, I meant them, with every fibre in my being. You see...' Alexis' eyes tightened at the corners as though he was fighting some internal fight. 'I'm not like you Eirene, which was the entire point of this conversation. It wasn't really to lecture you on my beliefs but that part was necessary to help you understand what I am. I am not from Rome, despite my flawless pronunciation of your language,' he managed a ghost of a smile that was teasing as Eirene blushed again, his words echoing something she had once shouted angrily at him. His eyes were the perfect indigo hue of a summer sky at midnight she noticed, and the gentle strength in his hands as they lay lightly upon her skin made her heart ache for more physical contact with him. She had to concentrate very hard to listen to the meaning in his words. 'I was sent to Earth, more specifically to Rome, to guide you along the path that has been chosen for you. '

'Sent from where?' she asked with wide eyes, wondering whether she had heard him correctly and feeling rather stupid.

'From a place called Hiera which is the home of the one that Christians call God, the Father of all things, if it must have a name. There are many of us Guardians – though we have more recently been referred to as angels. We are assigned humans to help on their journeys if there is a particularly difficult stretch of path ahead of them, to guide them along so that their souls can learn all they need to learn before they can transcend. Our aid can be anything from the lightest touch, a gentle nudge or a word of encouragement when it is most needed, to a lifelong companionship. I have helped many people along their road to the ultimate transcendence, Eirene, but I have never, ever, in all of my existence felt about anyone the way I feel about you. You have captured my heart completely, if indeed we have hearts, for I am immortal.' Alexis took Eirene's face with both hands now, his gaze intense and sincere as she scanned his eyes desperately with her own for any sign of madness, totally overwhelmed by all that he was trying to tell her. 'It is the truth, Eirene, I swear it.'

A strangely muffled creaking started to invade the silence that settled upon them, quiet at first and then louder as a ripping noise could be heard that stopped just as abruptly as it had begun. It took Eirene a good long minute to register the fact that the growing sunlight that had spread around them as they sat talking beneath the tree had been cut off and no longer warmed the bare patches of her skin. Instead she could feel something soft, downy and very light as it brushed against her arms. It couldn't have been Alexis' fingertips as they were still cupping her face.

'Oh!' Eirene muttered in surprise as a flash of brilliant white caught her eye and made her turn her head. A huge wall of feathers barred her vision of the surrounding trees and brush that scattered either side of the worn path that led on from where they sat beneath the myrtle tree. Each feather was clearly defined in the sunlight despite the starkness of colour; they gleamed purely with some inner radiance that made her eyes ache and squint. She reached out a hand to touch the feathers with some apprehension as she looked up at Alexis, her fingers hovering an inch away. He was watching her expression intently, trying to gage her reaction. Alexis gave her a barely perceptible nod, his usually gentle mouth pressed into a tense line. Eirene looked back at the huge span of wings and let her hand brush against the white feathers. She smiled in delight, finding them warmer than she had imagined them to be and more slippery than honeyed figs as they slipped beneath her touch.

'Oh,' she murmured again, her fingertips skimming the slick surface of the large feathers that cocooned them both. Eirene raised herself up further as her hand boldly explored the length and breadth of the wing, first kneeling up and then standing as she followed the thick curve up higher, sloping down again to where smaller and fluffier feathers met the skin of Alexis' back which was visible through the ripped fabric of his clothes. As he had expanded his wings they had torn the cotton to escape which must have been the cause of the strange sound Eirene had heard moments before. Alexis remained still as she explored each wing in turn, his features relaxed and somewhat calmer since Eirene had not recoiled in fear or horror at the sight. Kneeling on the floor he was at least a head shorter than Eirene as she stood, but his wings came up higher than the girl, even when she stood on her tiptoes. 'Wings,' she said, 'You can fly?'

'Yes,' he said, softly.

'But… but… where do you keep them when you aren't using them? How come I've never seen them before?' She took a step back to admire the delicate curves of the tips as they rose from his muscular frame and dipped back towards him again, the sunlight flitting through the leaves of the tree to play different shades of white over the dense feathers that gleamed like the cleanest of linens. He flexed and the wings spread out, higher and wider than before, like a bird preparing to take flight.

'I can conceal them at will, though it takes a great deal of energy to do so.' Eirene nodded, unable to take her eyes from him, for he was the single most beautiful sight she had ever seen. She thought of Alexis' striking sister.

'The Mistress, Liviana, is she a guardian too? Does she have wings?'

'Yes. She was sent to guide Phoibe and Aisha, to see them from the auction block to a safe and loving household, though the luxuries of our life distracted her from her duties and I had to step in. I suppose part of it was my own fault, for pandering to the narcissism she developed. But I had my distractions too.' He smiled at Eirene, the splayed wings settling back to lie against his spine, trailing down so that white feathers mingled with the grass like so many daisies. Eirene sat back down, awe and wonder still etched in her face as she sat opposite him. 'And Liviana is not her true name… She is called Petra where we are from, just as my true name is Jinn. We are both of the house of Quil-Ya, the highest order of Watchers and Guardians. It was thought we would blend in a little more easily with names from your people.' Eirene cast a mental image of the two god-like beings, one dark and one golden blonde, side by side with their beauty radiating like the rays of the sun and she doubted very much that their names had helped them to walk unnoticed amidst the city-folk of Rome, who were as like an ugly creeping caterpillar to a colourful butterfly. The thought was almost laughable.

'And just which path is it you are to lead me down, Master Jinn?' she asked, using his true name without much thought, testing out the unfamiliar sound. She imagined she caught a tightness around his eyes again, his lips pressed together for the smallest of moments before he answered her with a sad fierceness that she found strange.

'I cannot tell and I will not lie to you, Eirene, so please do not ask me again.' His hands found her face once more, holding it gently before his lips brushed warmly against hers, softer than the touch of a feather.

'Then my life is in your hands, Master,' she replied against his lips, her mouth warm and eager for his as she returned the kiss, feeling reckless in the companionship of the secret he had shared with her. Eirene felt his arms encircling her waist and they pulled her closer, cradling her slight frame against the solidness of his chest. His lips found her chin, her neck that still bore his collar and her ear as he whispered as low as the gentle breeze that slipped around them and rustled the leaves of the myrtle tree, ruffling the feathers of his wings that still lay exposed, 'And I shall cherish it for always, Eirene, as I shall you.'


	18. Chapter 18

The shrill alarm reached their ears before the looming shape of the house came into view, the sound cutting obscenely through the hush of daybreak with a screech like the repeated drag of nails on a chalkboard that immediately drowned out the dawn chorus.

'Someone's been in the house,' Jinn muttered needlessly, since anyone within a ten mile radius would know that. He came to an abrupt halt and set Eutopia on her feet. He had carried her for the past fifteen minutes or so with one arm crooked beneath her knees and the other curled around her shoulders as she half-dozed against his chest having been unaware of just how far she had run initially. She had lost her flip-flops in the lake and so her bare feet had posed a bit of problem now that the adrenaline had left her system and she could feel each tender step upon the twigs and leaves that littered the ground, which is why she had consented to being carried.

'What?' she asked, suddenly tense and alert as all traces of sleepiness evaporated in an instant, every muscle and sinew singing with the desire to flee again as she steadied herself against Jinn.

'I set the alarm before I followed you; I always do whenever I leave, no matter how long I'm gone for. Someone's been in the house.'

'Burglars?' Eutopia asked in a hushed tone, fingers tightening on his forearm as Jinn moved protectively, instinctively in front of her. He frowned thoughtfully, one arm reaching out as though to hold her back from bolting into the house despite the fact that she had now turned bodily so that her feet and most of her torso pointed in the opposite direction.

'Burglars wouldn't be so incautious as to set off the alarm,' he said. Eutopia's eyes widened as she imagined a hoard of police officers lurking in the bushes that lay along either side of them, seeing their dark, uniformed shapes sneaking about in the shadows of the big old house, lying in wait for them behind the dusty velvet drapes and her fingers dug harder into the flesh of Jinn's arm.

'The police then, they must have caught up with us from your crazy stint at the service station!'

'Definitely not, do you think they would announce their presence so publically?'

'I guess not,' Eutopia said, feeling quite stupid as she found herself pulled forward, keeping a tight grip on Jinn who began to stalk purposefully towards the piercing noise. 'Wait, you're going inside?!' she squawked fearfully as she half-heartedly tried to pull him back, remembering and meeting the bulge of muscle in his forearm that she had been forced to contend with at the garage when she'd tried to check his anger then.

'I need to go inside to reset the alarm,' Jinn explained patiently, his lips to her ear to avoid having to raise his voice over the din, 'otherwise the whole Surrey police force _will_ come swooping down on us. Don't worry, it's fine, I won't let anything happen to you,' he added, soothingly, as he caught Eutopia's hand and pulled her close to his side. 'I will not lose you for a second time.' He said it with such forceful conviction that Eutopia felt all the fear trickle from her and a warm electrical thrill rushed to take its place as her ear tingled where his lips had touched. They had reached the French doors that led out from the kitchen at the back of the house.

'Locked,' Jinn said, trying the handle. 'The glass hasn't been broken either and all these windows look fine, none of them seem broken or forced open.' A dark frown took over his handsome features as he took a step back to scan the flat face of the building before he produced a key from his pocket and led the way inside. Eutopia, still gripping his hand, followed with hesitant steps. The alarm was so much louder now and she could feel the pressure building up painfully in her ears as the high pitched sound continued its relentless wail, bashing again and again at her fragile eardrums. Jinn didn't pause to turn on the light by the kitchen door but instead swept through the long hallway to the front of the house where Eutopia could make out a little box on the wall beside the front door that had tiny buttons like a keypad, much like the one he had fiddled with outside when they had first arrived. She found it hard to make out the numbers in the gloom, but Jinn obviously had no problem as he punched at a series of buttons with one finger without so much as squinting. Sudden silence flooded her aching ears with relief, leaving her eardrums buzzing gently in the wake of the assault on them and the immediate absence of sound seemed almost alien.

'Thank God for that,' she said, letting her hand drop from the side of her head where it had been trying unsuccessfully to block out the sound. Her other hand was still clutching tightly at Jinn's, who seemed as reluctant as she did to break that hesitant, tenuous contact the past few hours had established between them.

'I've always found that to be an interesting expression,' Jinn almost smirked through the crease of concern on his forehead. 'The front door is still secure. I need to check the other windows though, make sure no one has got in.' Eutopia nodded, feeling reluctant to follow him again as she was unable to shake off the vision of police officers crouched in the shadows, ready to spring out at any moment to arrest them both. She found her eyes darting constantly to all the places that might easily conceal a figure as Jinn led her around the house, switching on lights and checking each and every window for any signs of forced entry, which turned out to be easier said than done given the cavernous size of the house. Each and every window held up to Jinn's vigorous checks and Eutopia could see his frustration growing with each secure pane of glass in each room as he checked them all and found nothing amiss.

'So how would they have gotten in? Could it have been a false alarm?' Eutopia asked, voicing Jinn's own thoughts.

'I don't know,' he said in a distracted tone, pushing open the door to the bedroom Eutopia had slept in before her night-time escapades, the last room they had to check in the house since they had worked their way methodically from bottom to top. 'I think perhaps…' but Eutopia never found out what it was that Jinn thought as his words stuck in his throat. The huge windows that took up the length of one wall threw back the ghost-like reflection of the two figures frozen in the doorway with Jinn's hand hovering above the light switch he had just flipped to chase the darkness away. Eutopia followed his gaze to where something soft and white lay like a forgotten tuft of cotton-wool on top of the duvet that she had shaken out over the bed to make it look less rumpled before she had left. She crossed the room to get a better look.

'What's that?' she asked curiously, reaching out to pick up the little cloud that undulated gentle in the breeze caused by her movement. Jinn's hand was on hers before her fingertips had the chance to brush the odd object, preventing her from exploring any further.

'Feathers,' he said, 'three feathers.' His eyes were black, contemplative as he looked down at her. 'We can't stay here anymore; we'll have to leave sooner than I thought.' Jinn scooped the feathers up with his free hand and Eutopia got a closer look at them. Each one was about six inches in length and curved up away from where they lay on his palm, long downy fronds fluttering ever so slightly like delicate coral rippling with an unseen current. They were a soft, pure white that reminded Eutopia of snow falling starkly against the backdrop of a steely sky, but seemed to glow with some radiance that she vaguely remembered having seen before.

'Where did they come from? How did they get here if all the doors and windows were locked?' she asked, looking more confused than Jinn though less alarmed.

'It doesn't matter how… the more important question is why? But like I said, right now we need to leave.' He clenched his fist around the feathers, crushing them before flinging them away with force that made little difference as they fluttered in an unconcerned and leisurely manner to the floor no more than an inch away from where they both stood. They looked for a moment at the crumpled feathers, discarded and forlorn-looking with all the softness squeezed from them.

'Three feathers,' Jinn muttered again, more to himself than Eutopia, running both hands through his dark hair, smoothing it back before it sprung back to slight unruliness. 'Have you got everything?' He turned his gaze back to Eutopia, tearing his eyes away from little white mound on the floor. Eutopia gasped, shock and then a sick fear registering in her wide eyes.

'My bag… my things, purse, money, clothes… they were all in my bag in the clearing. My phone, oh shit my phone! We've got to go and get it, Jinn,' she urged, making for the door.

'We don't have time, my stuff is all packed in my room and I've got more than enough money for the both of us. I can buy you a new phone, we've got to go.' Jinn followed Eutopia out of the room but instead of turning right behind her towards the end of the long corridor where the stairs were he walked the short distance across the hall to his bedroom. He remerged only moments later with his backpack slung across his broad shoulders and with a pair of dark jogging bottoms in one hand which he tossed to Eutopia as she turned, paused halfway down the sweeping staircase as he caught up with her.

'You might want to put these on,' he said, passing her easily on the broad step, keeping his back to her so as to afford her some privacy as she pulled them on. She noticed that he'd taken the time to pull on a thick red Hollister hoodie and some dark jeans. The jogging bottoms, despite their bagginess, were soft and warm on her bare legs that in all that had passed she had somehow forgotten about. Of course her jeans still lay spread out in on the floor of the clearing where she'd left them with the vain hope that they might have somehow dried out enough to put on at some point, her battered old Nokia that had once been her most prized possession was still tucked in the pocket and rendered utterly useless thanks to Jinn and her brief swim in the lake. She still wore his hoodie that he'd told her to swap her wet clothes for and she was grateful for it as she hurried down the remainder of the stairs and followed him out of the front door because whilst they had traipsed from room to room the steadily brightening dawn had given way to a dull morning sky that was drizzling. _Typical British summer_ , she thought, thinking back to the previous day's sunshine, _never the same from one day to the next… much like my life at the moment._ She watched with curiosity as Jinn set the alarm on the house again.

'Is there really much point, since someone can clearly get in bypassing all the doors and windows anyway?' she asked, pulling the hood of her jumper up against the rain.

'Force of habit,' he said, shouldering his backpack again which Eutopia eyed with some hesitation.

'Are we going camping?'

'No,' Jinn smiled, leading the way across the crunching gravelled drive, past a neatly topiary-sculpted tree cut into a perfect cone that was set amidst a little roundabout of red brick and the kind of smooth velvety grass that just begs to be sprawled on when the rare British sunshine showed its face.

'Good, I hate camping,' said Eutopia as they approached an outbuilding covered with almost as much glossy ivy that crawled across the front of the house. The one-storey building was probably larger than an average five bedroomed house despite the fact it was not quite as tall.

'Me too,' Jinn replied, pressing a button on a key fob he'd taken from his pocket, 'too many lions.'

'What?' she asked totally mystified, but he just shook his head with a grin. 'You are seriously weird.'

Jinn nodded sagely. 'So I've been told.' A mechanical whirr, a steady gentle hum beneath the bird song reached Eutopia's ears and it wasn't until the front of the one-story building before them began to rise up off the ground and disappear inch by inch into the low ceiling that she realised it was a garage. Jinn led the way inside before the wide door had fully opened, ducking his head to avoid catching it which was a manoeuvre that Eutopia had no need of. There were no windows but the single vast room was illuminated by two strip-lights above that were activated by motion sensors as they entered. The walls were white and unadorned without the usual workbenches or tools that she would have expected to find in a garage, the sterile space free from the usual broken or unforgotten household items, and yet a garage it most definitely was.

Three cars sat quite comfortably side by side with enough room to easily slide three more in. She noticed that one of the cars was the shiny black Merc they had made their journey here in. It seemed to lay silent on the worn flagstone floor like a giant black cat, poised and ready to catapult them off into the abyss should Jinn decide it. Her attention was drawn to the sparkling metallic paint of a low and sleekly curvaceous two-seater convertible. It glittered like a pool of blood between the black of the Mercedes and the unassuming white of a car she easily knew to be a BMW that was clearly brand new by the 2012 plate displayed on the front. It was unlike any BMW she'd ever seen but as she had come to expect by Jinn's other two choices of car, it was just as elegant and fluid in its design.

'BMW X6 M50d, Twin Power Turbo six-cylinder in-line diesel engine with 740Nm maximum torque and 381 horsepower,' he said with the proud tone usually owned by the parent of some genius brainchild, as though the words should mean something to her. 'The red one is a McClaren Spider,' he nodded at the low slung car parked in the middle of the other two, sinisterly still as though it was indeed a spider ready and waiting in its web to entangle something juicy. 'We'll take the Beemer though. It's much less…'

'Ostentatious?' Eutopia asked with a raised eyebrow as she climbed into the white work of art Jinn had blipped open, fastening her seatbelt as he slid into the black leather seat beside her. 'So you have a car for every occasion, huh? I'm disappointed, Mr QuilYa, I half expected a helicopter or two.'

Jinn smirked. 'Sorry to disappoint, Ms Midnight, I've only got a few hundred thousand pounds worth of cars in this garage.' Eutopia rolled her eyes as he revved the engine unnecessarily, the sound bouncing back at them in the confined space to roar beast-like as Jinn grinned boyishly at her, all the strain etched in his face from earlier now evaporated. He released the brake and the car rolled smoothly out of the garage and into the grey morning light as the door lowered behind them as slowly as it had risen.

'Where are we going?' she asked, sinking back into the warm seat as Jinn steered them across the drive and around the carefully manicured tree that pointed up at the rainclouds above, and down a wide wending road. The huge manor house, for Eutopia could see that's what it was now in the light, fell back behind them as an endless expanse of flat green and tall trees stretched out on either side of the wide gravelled road they followed.

'Peckham,' Jinn answered as he reached down to fiddle with the matt-black iPod nestled in the centre console. Eutopia noted the colour of the expensive looking gadget with a little amusement as a strumming bass line of some song she didn't recognise filled the car.

' _I need something to believe in, coz I don't believe in myself-'_ came the soft male tone from the iPod.

'Are all angels' lives so black and white?' Eutopia asked Jinn.

' _I'm sick and tired of getting nowhere, guess it'll all work out-'_

'Not quite. Mine's red too,' he smiled quietly, pressing a little button on the steering wheel that must operate the immense wrought iron gates that they had paused at, setting them swinging open and releasing the car into the open countryside beyond.

'Why Peckham? I thought the idea was to keep clear of London for the moment.'

' _And I need someone to put my trust in, coz I ain't trusting myself. And I'm scared of failure, so scared of success. Guess it'll all work out-'_ the smooth male voice continued to sing, softly. _How very true right now_ , Eutopia thought as she regarded Jinn.

'We need to find Mike since he won't be able to ring you back now. Do you remember where he lives?'

'I think so. It's been a while, but he did take me to his mum's house a few times, mostly when he'd ran out of money.'

Jinn nodded. 'Then that's where we're going. We'll stop somewhere along the way and pick a few things up for you, as much as I think you look good in my clothes,' he laughed softly as he cast a look at her blushing cheeks.

'Why did we have to leave so quickly? I could have got my own things.' His laughter dried up as swiftly as it had begun and she could see the hard glint in his eye as he turned back to look at the narrow country road, overhung with untamed trees clipped back only by the vehicles that passed through them giving the branches an unnatural square-tunnel look. 'It was the feathers wasn't it? What was so bad about them? Weren't they yours?' she wondered whether angels cast out old feathers from their wings like birds did and looked bemused at the mental image her mind formed of the inhumanly beautiful man spanning out his white wings and carefully plucking out imperfect feathers with his teeth.

'No, the feathers weren't mine. They were… they were… _hers._ ' His mouth twisted as he almost spat the word. 'It means she knows. Three feathers, it means she knows. How could she not with it being plastered all over the news channels 24/7. She's telling me she knows what happened at the _Three Feathers Inn_ … that I've found you. I should have known anyway in that alleyway. Those men,' He banged the steering wheel with one hand in sudden frustration, making Eutopia jump and frown at him. 'They weren't men in the true human sense.'

'What do you mean by that?' Eutopia asked, exasperated by his half-stories. Why couldn't he give her a full explanation without her having to probe?

'Have you ever heard of the Nephilim?'

'No. What's that?'

'Guess you don't read the Bible much, huh? Not that they have it all right though, but it's close enough. Anyway, the Nephilim are a race of beings created by the union of fallen angels and human women. They look exactly like a human male, even take on certain features of their mothers such as hair colour, eye colour and skin tone. They grow at the usual rate, age like a normal man and have a similar life span but they inherit the darker side of their angelic fathers. The fallen angels are embittered, twisted and utterly selfish because of their fate which is a trait they pass on to their offspring, who grow up with an inherent sense of anger and an 'I see, I want' attitude. The Nephilim are predators, they deliberately seek out prey to sate whatever twisted desire they have at that time. Luckily, despite their angelic parentage, they have all the usual weaknesses of a human male.'

'There are no female Nephilim?' Eutopia asked, wide eyed.

'No, because there have never been any female fallen angels.' Eutopia frowned at that, trying to understand the mechanics.

'But as I said, I should have known this wasn't going to be straightforward as soon as I realised the three men that attacked you were all Nephilim. They usually hunt alone and it's very rare to find more than two in one place, with one victim. They are too selfish to share.' Jinn pulled a face, his jaw tight. 'I should have known then it was deeper, that there was someone else involved… Perhaps I shouldn't have been quite so reckless. But then, why change a habit of an eternity?' He gave a small, un-amused hint of a smile and a little sigh, the delicate song playing low, filling the silence that fell.

 _'…'_ _cause that leads to regret diving in too soon, and I'll owe it all to you, my little bird…'_

'Um… who is this _she_ you're talking about?' Eutopia carefully asked, sensing the anger that crackled around him like static.

'My sister. Petra,' The name sounded familiar to her though she couldn't immediately place it however hard she tried, flicking back through the years in her mind to match it to a face she had come across at some point. 'I did expect a bigger reaction from you, you know,' Jinn said eventually, glancing at Eutopia from the corner of his eye as he carefully negotiated a rather tight bend on the single track road they were following.

'From me? About what?' she asked in surprise, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them as her bare toes gripped the soft leather of her seat-edge.

'Back at the house I told you that I am an angel and I barely had a flicker of emotion from you. I was expecting an element of surprise, a little shock perhaps?'

'I don't think much can shock me right now to be honest. I've just found out that I'm a born again slave-girl from ancient Rome and I'm on the run with a murderer who owned me in a previous life… who now just so happens to be some sort of angelic being. I think I've had all my shocks for today, thanks.' Jinn laughed gently, causing Eutopia to smile too.

'Well I guess when you put it like that, I can understand. Does it bother you though? I know its expecting a lot from you to take it all in.' Eutopia rubbed a hand over her eyes with a sigh, feeling as though her brain was just simply too small to store and make sense of all this information it kept being bombarded with.

'I guess my main question is how you can be an angel and yet take life away?' she asked after a moment of thought. 'Aren't you supposed to guard life or something? Isn't that the whole idea of being a 'guardian'?' She twisted in her seat so that her right shoulder and side leant against the black leather of the backrest so that she could face Jinn as he drove and her eyes curious as she studied his lovely features. Jinn frowned and his hands tightened on the steering wheel.

'Your life is the only one I am interested in guarding. But you are right to an extent, yes; angels are often referred to as Guardians since that is more likely than not how they refer to themselves. Many people do have guardian angels in a sense sent to protect and to lead, though the concept of what we actually do has been lost, twisted and romanticised over time.' The light tone had left his words as he spoke, the endless reams of green and brown hues whizzing past behind his head out of the driver's side door as the car continued to propel them smoothly through the twisting maze of single track, high-hedged road that wound around the outlying lands of Farnham. Some of the views from out of the windscreen were truly beautiful, the curving hills and fields layered upon one another, all the shades of green and yellow and brown that the human eye could recognise, bordered by hedgerows tangled and tamed all at once, teeming with birds and bugs and other secret wildlife, the colours made darker and more intense saturated by the steady rain that fell. But Eutopia didn't notice any of it as it sped by outside because her eyes were fixed firmly on the man beside her.

'What do you mean by that? You're saying the traditional view of the guardian angel isn't true? How so?'

'This isn't really what I'd like to be talking about right now. I think we should be thinking of a plan of action.'

'Where are your wings?' Eutopia asked, ignoring him.

'What?'

'Your wings, where are they? Shouldn't they be out and sort of flapping about?' Jinn turned his head momentarily from the road he'd been concentrating on to glance at Eutopia with a hint of something like exasperation.

'If my wings were flapping about, Eutopia, then everyone would know what I am. It would be disastrous! Look at all the wars waged over religion at the moment, could you imagine what would happen if the existence of angels was proved?' He turned back to the road, leaving Eutopia to nibble her lower lip, deep in thought. He fiddled with the iPod, switching the gentle, husky sound to some heavier, deeper beat that she didn't recognise. She could feel each throb of the music pulsing with the bass deep in her bones. She settled back in her seat, closing her eyes. The music, despite its hefty intensity, was soothing since it distracted from the throbbing of all the new information her brain had been forced to absorb over the past few days.

'Okay. So, you can make your wings disappear whenever you want?'

'Yes. It takes a lot of energy though.'

'Can I see them?' She heard, rather than saw Jinn's smile.

'Perhaps.'

'And I guess the one other question I have…'

'Yes?' Jinn was expectant.

'Well-' Eutopia squirmed a little bit, shifting her weight as she opened her eyes. 'If- if you are an angel that must mean there is a God and so if there is a God, why are such bad things allowed to happen in the world, especially in his name?' she asked, thinking back on what he'd said about religious wars.

'The age-old 'God should be good argument'… Think of it this way,' said Jinn, taking a sharp right turn that Eutopia hadn't been prepared for since it was quite overgrown and tucked between two wild hedgerows. Her arm flung out to grip the dashboard to enable her to keep her balance and stop herself from spilling into Jinn's lap. 'Would you know what black was if you didn't know what white was? Would you know what light was if you didn't know the dark? Would either mean anything, if you weren't aware of the other? Everything has an opposite. Does religion interest you much?'

'No, not at all if I'm honest. I can't say I've ever really given much thought to a particular belief but that is the only question I've ever considered at length. Like my mum, she was the kindest, most caring person you could ever meet. She would do anything for anyone, no matter who you were. She would have given her last penny to see someone else less fortunate than her benefit from it. She'd never done anything to hurt anyone in her life and yet she suffered every day for the last year of her life. I watched her waste away, sat back helpless as her cheeks hollowed and her skin grew pale, so pale I could almost see through it. Her hair fell out with the chemo to begin with, huge dark clumps that I would find all over the place, even in my food when she still had the strength to cook… She struggled to breathe in those last few weeks so she couldn't even walk up the stairs to bed. I remember the Macmillan nurse, who came to our house to help out, setting a bed up for her in the lounge instead so she didn't have to climb the stairs. I used to creep down at night, with Will's torch, and sit beside her just to make sure she was still breathing. I was terrified she would die there in the dark, all by herself.' Unexpected tears sprang up in her blue eyes and Eutopia brushed them angrily away before tugging at the sleeve of her jumper, distractedly chewing at it until Jinn reached out a hand from the steering wheel and pulled it from her teeth, taking her hand in his to entwine their fingers and lay their joint hands in her lap.

'She would not have been alone, not for a single step of that journey; she would never have been alone,' he said with confidence.

'But my point is why are things like that allowed to happen? It just doesn't seem fair when men like that Brady are still allowed to pollute the Earth's atmosphere,' Eutopia demanded, referring to the Moors murderer who had been dominating the headlines lately, when her own face wasn't being paraded on air. Jinn shook his head.

'I'm afraid that's not something I have the knowledge to answer.' He lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. 'I'm sorry for your loss, though, with your mother.' Eutopia wiped at her eyes again with her other sleeve, touched by his gentle warmth.

'Thank you. Do Christians believe in reincarnation?' she asked suddenly, wondering out loud. Jinn raised an eyebrow and glanced at her as the car swooped over a narrow wooden bridge, causing a Jeep on the other side to wait for them to clear the slow moving stream below. The little communal green they had passed through was quaint, the grass triangle in the middle guarded by a white-washed and thatched roofed country pub that sprawled the length of one side, a crumbling Victorian-looking school on the other that lurked behind a wrought iron fence topped with wicked spikes and the wide, clear stream cutting straight across the third side. They cleared the bridge and Jinn gave a wave of thanks to the waiting Jeep.

'Not strictly speaking, but angels aren't just a Christian creation. We've been around since the conception of time, just with different names.'

'That's a long time,' Eutopia said, turning to glance out of the window again as a road sign which most likely advertised the name of the village they were driving through whizzed past in a blur.

'Yes, but it never felt as long as when I was waiting for you.'


	19. Chapter 19

' _Alexis_. You didn't come back for me.' The light, airy tone lifted petulantly above the noise of the teeming mass of bodies crammed in the public bar at the front of the tavern that spilled seamlessly out into the darkened street and merged with the passing foot-traffic. Alexis had little trouble catching the words and he turned immediately to meet Liviana's golden eyes, who easily stood almost a foot taller than most of the men who lounged or stood about sharing wine and roasted meat in the hot, bustling space just inside the shop-front. The laughter and bubbling hum of conversation gradually lulled around them as every eye of the curious was turned now to the two tall figures who faced each other from either side of the room, one golden and resplendent in a pale blue stola that shimmered with an ethereal gleam in the lamplight, overlaying an expensive-looking ivory silk tunic, the other looking strikingly poorer in comparison with his dirt-stained and torn tunic of once finely woven cloth, though both were breathtakingly beautiful. Liviana's hair spilled out in a long flaxen rope from a thick pearl band fixed to the crown of her head, the shining locks studded with tiny little flowers crafted from lapis lazuli as the braid hung heavily over her one shoulder that was laid bare by the fold of her gown. The opposite shoulder of her stola was secured with a silver and sapphire broach which most likely cost more than most of the men in the tavern could ever dream to earn in a year. Indeed most merrily-glazed eyes were drawn to it as the woman moved deftly around the stools at the open front of the tavern where the hungry could eat on the go, towards Alexis as he stood towards the back of the room surrounded by the tables at which the slightly more wealthier clientele were perched, watching and waiting as they consumed fish hauled fresh that morning from the boats nestled in the docks just a stone's throw away.

'I thought my letter explained everything quite clearly, _Liviana_ ,' he said, turning from her as she came to stand before him. The delicate tinkle of a laugh, like wind through a fragile crystal chime left the lips of Liviana as she took in the plate of food that Alexis carried in one hand and the plain brown jug of ale in the other.

'You have somewhat lowered yourself to be waiting on your slave, dear brother.' Her words were still soft, though her tone was feminine enough to drift easily above the coarser sound of the predominantly male conversation that remained hushed and expectant as everyone watched the two majestic creatures face off like peacocks in the midst of a courtship display. All eyes were drawn now to Alexis, some filled with mirth at the woman's words, others too glassy with the copious amounts of cheap wine and ale to be anything but gleeful at the tension of confrontation that suddenly swelled in the room. Alexis' fist clenched with fury around the handle of the jug he held and the rough pottery was in danger of being ground to dust beneath his grip, the clenching of his teeth given away by the taut muscle in his jaw. He closed his eyes for a moment, clearly trying to reign in his temper as his lips were pressed into a hard line.

'Why did you come here?' he asked his words terse and sharp.

'Speak with me outside,' Liviana commanded, haughtily, 'I can't bear to be in this filthy backstreet hovel for one moment longer.' She turned elegantly, swinging her long golden plait over her shoulder and letting it fall straight down her back as she stalked from the room with all eyes following her. The idea that Alexis would not follow her had never crossed her mind as she left the open-fronted tavern and stepped out into the street where the heavy, cloying scent of fresh and rotting fish was strangely less potent than it had been inside. Liviana stalked through the teeming mass of commoners without a backward glance; dock-workers, traders, sailors and travellers alike who did not have a home to go back to or slaves to cook for them, who littered the street outside, hustling for service or a table. Alexis, as every other man in the room did, watched her go with wary eyes. He placed the jug and plate of food down on the nearest and unoccupied table with every expectation of finding both empty on his return. He found Liviana around the corner of the tavern where the bakery next door left a gap of about three feet wide which was usually utilised by passers-by needing to relieve themselves, the fetid stench of piss and human waste caused Liviana to wrinkle her nose.

'How can you bear it here? This place stinks like the foul shit on a dead donkey!' She demanded, whirling around to face Alexis as he approached her.

'I do not need to justify myself to you, dear _sister_ ,' he spat, his eyes glinting dangerous and dark. 'I didn't expect to see you so soon; I would have thought you would still be lapping up each drop of attention spoon fed to you by Cato.'

'I came to my senses soon after you left, sweet, sweet _Jinn,'_ she breathed his true name as gently as a lovers caress, carefully stepping around the dank puddles in the dark street to press herself closer to his tall, hulking frame in the small space. Alexis moved back from her, whipping his dirty dalmatica away from her reaching fingers as he caught the faltering smile on her pretty lips.

'Are you sure you can bear to touch me, _Liviana_? Do I not smell too disgusting for you? I am surprised you can even look me in the eye after I have lowered myself to depths you cannot comprehend because of the shallowness that stilts the beat of your angelic heart.'

'We must maintain this charade, even now, when I am sure you have told her what we are?' she demanded, her eyes suddenly as hard and as cold as unworked gold.

'Yes. They are but names. Besides, I believe that yours suits the personality you have developed. Envious to the last.'

'Envious?!' Liviana spluttered in surprise, 'of her? Of that common, inconsequential slave of a mortal? I think you are deluded, Alexis, defender of all!' He laughed, shortly, crossing his arms across his chest as he leaned back slightly to let more of the light that crept between the buildings they stood between bathe her upturned face, widening the gap between them as much as he could in the tight space. 'Please,' Liviana stepped closer again, raising her hands palm upwards towards Alexis with fingers splayed to show she meant no harm as she moved with slow deliberation to rest them lightly on the taut muscle of his chest, golden eyes pleading as she peered up at him in the half-light. Liviana's lips, parted and trembling, brushed over Alexis' as she whispered. 'Please don't leave me, Jinn, we've been together so long, roaming the width and breadth of this strange place. I wouldn't cope here on my own without you, I need you.' As Alexis' arms remained impassively folded across his chest Liviana pressed this to her advantage, her warm lips lightly trailing along his tense jaw and up to his ear as she continued to whisper. 'You need me too… remember, all those nights, those long, empty nights we spent together looking up at the glorious stars instead of down on them; that bewilderment we felt in those first few days here as we helped each other understand these feelings and emotions that these humans feel. I couldn't have got through those dark moments without you to show me the light. I understand that now, that we are here to help each other. When I lost my way with Phoibe and Aisha you were there to show me the way and so now I am here to show you that this is not right. These feelings you have, they will pass.' Liviana slid her hands up to clasp either side of Alexis' face with long, elegant fingers as she pulled back enough to lift her wide eyes to search his. 'This girl is nothing but another human that you have been sent to guide, and so guide her you must without falling into this inescapable vortex of emotion that we seem to be drawn into. We are nothing like them, we cannot love their kind the way we can love our own. You must take her back to Rome at once; reunite her with her brother as you were supposed to do so that we may continue on our own journey. Together.'

'You are wrong.' Alexis' eyes were narrowed to harsh slits, his tone low but firm as he stared hard at Liviana and each word was enunciated through clenched teeth. 'I will not let any harm come to her. I cannot lead her to that fate; I love her more than I have ever loved anything or anyone. This is not a passing phase, Liviana, I have truly never felt this way before and I will do whatever it takes to protect her and it does _not_ involve the path she has been given. '

'Then I must do it for you,' said Liviana, taking a resigned step back and letting her fingers slip from his warm face. 'Do what must be done, or I _will_ do it for you.' Her eyes followed his hand as it moved to shift his dalmatica aside and a subtle bluish glow lit up the foul, damp space they stood in, emanating from the sword still sheathed at his hip.

'You will do no such thing!' he growled, dangerously. The still air seemed to shimmer and hum with an eerie vibration that settled just below the arc of one's hearing, thrumming on the threshold of the aural sense as a gentle blue light seemed to envelope them both. The effect on Liviana was instant. She rushed at Alexis, her gracefully solid frame flung at him in the tiny alleyway as she slid to her knees at his feet, her face full of angelic entreaty as she clutched at his ragged tunic, the filth on the floor totally forgotten as it clung to her delicate stola.

'No! We have a duty,' she implored almost apologetically, her voice a fearful gasp.

'And I have told you time enough that my duty now is to protect Eirene and I will do all that is in my power to do so. As will Alastor.' The sword seemed to glow brighter as Alexis mentioned it, causing it to pulse like a living thing at his side.

'You cannot meddle with these things, you should not!' Liviana had a fistful of Alexis' tunic in each of her hands, the desperation in her voice twisting her beautiful features. 'If Uriel finds out about this… Michael,' she gasped, wide eyed. 'If Michael hears...' Her words petered out faintly as she appeared to lose the ability to speak at the thought.

Alexis crouched down so that he was level with the figure kneeling in the stench of human waste at his feet; his swift movement wrenching the fabric from Liviana's fingers as the tip of his nose almost touched hers. Liviana could see that his eyes were as black as his closely cropped hair, as fathomlessly deep as the blackest of nights.

'Then so be it,' he growled. The hum and blaze of light that had steadily grown around them with Alexis' fury, surrounding them in an azure cloud of vibration, began to die down. From having illuminated every crack in each coarse brick in the walls that surrounded them it seemed to settle to a dim glow that fluttered out like a flame that had been snuffed. He straightened up, brushing his hands over the front of his tunic as though wiping away Liviana's touch, before he reached down to grasp her beneath each elbow and pulled her up to her feet. 'Let them know if you must but do not expect such threats to change my mind. Eirene is now my entire reason for being, the whole purpose of my existence. Nothing can change that, not even Michael's scorn.'

The fight seemed to have left Liviana, her perfectly sculpted shoulders drooped, as did the pretty corners of her lips as she scoffed at him, incomprehension clear in eyes that were bright with tears.

'Scorn? If Michael hears of this I seriously doubt there will be any room for scorn amidst his anger at such a betrayal. We were tasked with a great thing, the first two Watchers of the House of QuilYa to be allowed to guide upon the Earth. Do you think that I will be allowed to remain here to continue? Michael will lose faith in me too if you deviate in such a way. You will be cast out and I will be called back to Hiera. I don't want to go back, Alexis, I like it here,' she pouted childishly.

'Then stay here. I will be moving on with Eirene tomorrow, I will take her as far away from Rome as I can get her.'

'You cannot run with her forever.'

'I will fly if I have to.'

Liviana gasped, her breath drawn in a choking rasp. 'You have revealed your wings?'

'Yes.' Sadness filled Liviana's eyes, causing them to soften to a honey coloured topaz in the gloom. He really was serious about this slave-girl. Never before had he revealed his true identity to any of the girls he had strung along on their journey so far, and there had been a few. More than a few. She nodded and her tone was surprisingly gentle when she next spoke.

'You will hurt her beyond reason when she discovers what you know of her brother.' She said.

'I will tell her everything when we are safely away and she will understand.'

'But you cannot stop what must come to pass. Whatever will be will be, it is inventible,' she insisted.

'How will I know for sure if I do not try?' Alexis countered and the silence that fell between them was poignant. After a moment Alexis sighed, heavily as he watched Liviana gather herself up, golden head held high and still a vision resplendent in her pale blue silk despite the filth that now stained most of the expensive and utterly impractical fabric. She walked to the entrance of the alleyway, where the raucous evening sounds of the street began to reach her ears again as though a glass dome had suddenly been lifted from the entire scene beyond.

'I only hope you can find someone to love in the same way that I love Eirene. You will understand the way I feel then, why I must do what I am doing.' Alexis said to the retreating figure, making her pause and look back at him.

'I already have.' With one last, lingering look, Liviana was gone with a gleaming swish of her long braid and a flutter of pale silk, leaving Jinn standing alone in the alleyway as Eirene closed the window shutters to the room they had hired for the night, shutting out all that had passed between the two figures in the alleyway below with clammy palms and a racing heart.


	20. Chapter 20

Paul Rose peered with little interest out of the bay-window from the chintzy armchair he sat in, looking out at the rain. It had begun to fall at a heavier, steadier pace since he'd driven the job car to a little suburb just outside of London accompanied by the Detective Constable that had been assigned to him.

DC Jonathon Jefferies, or 'Joffa' as most of the CID knew him as, was a tall and gangly young man who had recently passed his CID exam. This was his first major enquiry as a CID officer as the DI had thought it would be good practice for him to observe one of the older and more tenacious officers, pairing him up with Rose who had grumbled vocally to the other officers and to Joffa, though not to DI Mason himself, about not being paid enough to babysit. As it was, Joffa seemed a nice enough lad, with his easy Northern twang and irrepressible babbling about the latest football league tables as they'd driven through the damp streets of London to interview Mr Harold Shakeshaft, the driver of the Saab that had been assaulted by their unknown murder suspect.

Joffa was helping himself to his second lemon and poppy seed muffin as Mr Shakeshaft entered the room bearing a tray laden with a silver tea service and four delicate-looking china cups, complete with flouncy saucers, closely followed by a bird-like woman, petite and blonde, in a pale pink apron emblazoned with the slogan 'Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake' beneath a white printed crown. The woman set a dense fruitcake on the coffee table that lay in the middle of the living room like a raft cast adrift on the swirled blue carpet. The room was bright enough with the large bay-window and light coloured paint, but cluttered with various knick-knacks and ornaments on almost every surface so that it gave the impression of a stuffy second hand shop, like the ones that Rose's ex-wife used to drag him into many moons ago in Portobello Road when they had first been married.

'I just couldn't believe it, Sergeant, when my Harry told me what had happened. I told him at the time; I said 'You need to report that, you can't let that man get away with assaulting you like that,' but he never listens,' Mrs Shakeshaft was saying, twitching at her apron and fluttering her hands over the table to straighten the cake stand and plate of muffins that Joffa had been munching his way through. 'Tea, Constable?'

'Yeah, please. Milk and three, thanks.'

'And to think! Him, assaulted by a murderer! I hate to think what could have happened; my heart goes all a-flutter when I think of it.' She carefully poured the tea into one of the little china cups, plopped in three little white sugar lumps from the silver dish on the table and handed it to Joffa, who brushed the muffin crumbs off his fingers and on to his trousers before accepting it.

'Tea, Sergeant? Cut the fruit cake, Harry, I think the officers might like a nice slice of that, won't you boys?' she beamed at the two men; DS Rose settled deep in the flowered armchair by the window and the much taller floppy haired DC trying to fold himself up at the end of the sofa to make his long legs fit comfortably beneath the low coffee table in front of him. Joffa grinned.

'Yeah, thanks.'

DS Rose cleared his throat and leant forwards to take the tea offered by Mrs Shakeshaft.

'No cake for me please, Mrs Shakeshaft,' he said gruffly, with a look at the DC, who was eagerly devouring the thick slice of fruit cake that Mr Shakeshaft had handed him on a little china plate, as though he hadn't already eaten two of the muffins they had been plied with since their arrival ten minutes before. 'We're actually rather short on time and need to get a statement from your husband with regards to this assault.'

'Do stop fussing, Helen,' said Mr Shakeshaft, settling himself down on the other end of the sofa, facing towards the two detectives. His greying hair was receding both from the back and the front, leaving a gleaming forehead and pate in its wake. His soft face was fleshy and heavily lined, compared to the thin, pointed features of his wife's and he looked much older than the 48 years that he claimed. _That's what having a wife does to you,_ thought Rose with a smug inward smile, _makes you old before your time_. He had seen younger looking 58 year olds who'd served a hard life out in the force.

'Yes, of course, sorry. It's not every day we have the police come to our house though,' she said, patting her faded blonde hair that had been coifed neatly into a French braid, almost breathless with excitement as her hands fluttered down to tweak the tray and the plates on the table again.

'Go and wash up, love, then have a sit down with that new cook book you bought the other day. It'll be quieter in the kitchen for you.' Mr Shakeshaft smiled with a little exasperation at his wife.

'If you're sure you don't need me,'

'I'm quite capable of pouring tea, look,' said Mr Shakeshaft, helping himself to the teapot.

'Right, well. It was lovely to meet you gentlemen,' she bobbed a little at the two officers as though unsure whether she should curtsey. Helen Shakeshaft had never met real policemen before, not to speak to anyway. And these men were obviously well-to-do, since they weren't wearing a uniform. She skittered off to the kitchen; leaving Rose feeling like she was the kind of woman door-to-door salesmen might rub their hands in delight for, before faking a nosebleed just to escape her chattering. The men smiled politely as she disappeared through the doorway.

'Sorry, we don't get company often. Helen has recently joined a baking group and she relishes the chance to ply her cakes on anyone who enters the house,' he chuckled, good-naturedly, deepening the wrinkles around his eyes.

'It's all very nice,' Joffa said as he washed down the fruit cake that he'd polished off with a big slug of tea.

'I'll be sure to tell her. Now, what is it I can do for you, officers? You want a statement from me about what happened at the petrol station?'

'Yes, Sir, that's right,' Rose said, easing himself forward to place his teacup down on the table with a little chink.

'Harold, please.'

'Right, Harold. I'll ask you some questions about what happened that night and DC Jefferies will write out the statement as we go, then at the end you'll get a chance to read what he's written, change anything and sign it. Is that ok?'

'Oh yes, that's fine, super. Though I'm afraid I don't remember a great deal of detail, the whole thing just happened in such a blur and was so unexpected. I was just minding my own business and had stopped to fill up my car, and…'

'DC Jefferies,' Rose cut across Harold, sharply, 'get the statement form out of your case please.' Joffa, who's hand had been hovering between the plate of lemon muffins and the fruitcake, unsure which to have next, paused in its mission towards the little muffins.

'Yes, Sarge,' he said with an easy grin as he bent down to the slim black briefcase he'd lent against the sofa and slipped a couple of sheets of A4 paper out along with a clipboard which he rested on his lap, pen poised and ready.

'Ok, sorry, Harold, can we go back a bit there, we just need to get a few rudimentary details from you.'

'Sure, sure…' Joffa's pen flew in neat, elegant script across the page as he wrote down Mr Shakeshaft's answers to his Sergeants careful questioning and a statement began to form.

'So, Harold, could you describe your attacker for me please?' Rose finally asked, eyeing the cursive writing that Joffa had barely glanced up from with admiration. Most DCs that Rose knew had terrible handwriting.

'Well,' Harold sat back, leaning against the arm of the sofa as he thought. 'He was very tall. I'm about 5'11 and this man was at least 6 foot something. His hair was quite dark as were his eyes and he was quite broad, muscly. He had a slight accent but I couldn't place it and he was white, you know skin wise. I'd say he was about 25 to 30 years old, but then you can never tell with people can you?' he smiled, ruefully, perhaps thinking of the creases on his own face that added at least ten years.

'Uh-huh. What was he wearing?'

'Oh… dear, I really wouldn't like to say, I can't be clear on that part. Jeans I think and a jumper. Sorry I can't be any more descriptive. It was all such a shock you know, and happened so fast.'

'That's fine, thank you Harold, you're doing great so far. And what was it he said to you, if anything? We have the CCTV footage from the garage but unfortunately it doesn't have any sound.'

'He didn't actually speak to me, he spoke to the young girl he was with.' He shook his head sadly as he thought back to that night. 'Poor young thing, she was. Battered and bruised, no doubt by him.'

'The girl was injured?' Rose couldn't keep the note of surprise out of his voice, which caused Joffa to look up from the statement.

'Yes, her lip was cut I seem to remember, the bottom one was all swollen here,' Harold pointed to one corner of his mouth before rubbing a fingertip over the pouchy flesh where his cheekbone should have been. 'And she had a bruise here.' The two detectives caught each other's eye and Joffa dipped immediately into the briefcase again, pulling out the handful of CCTV stills from the garage. Rose frowned as he wondered how the bruises hadn't been picked up earlier, annoyed at himself for not having noted it before. He leant forward a little more, trying to escape the brutally soft cushions of the armchair so that he could look over the photographs again as Joffa splayed them out on the coffee table, one by one.

'Yes, this is them, that's definitely the man that attacked me, Sergeant,' Harold said with a little excitement, pointing a shaking forefinger at the photograph that showed him laid flat out on his back over the bonnet of his car as the tall man held him down by the throat and the slight girl beside him seemed to be trying to pull him away. Rose pulled one of the pictures towards him, the one that gave a clearer shot of the girl's face as he realised with some annoyance that she did appear to have a few scrapes and bruises. Were they caused by the giant of a man beside her? If so, why didn't she make the most of him being distracted and make a run for it? Or were they caused by a struggle with the murdered men? His frown deepened as his thoughts snuffled off by themselves, like an old bloodhound on a scent trail. He shot a dark look at Joffa, who had taken his momentary silence as a tea-break and had helped himself to another thick slice of fruit cake that he was hastily trying to consume, pen still in hand. The lad was a thin as a rake and as lanky as a beanpole, yet he ate like a horse. Rose briefly pondered on the fairness of that as he felt the waistband of his trousers straining around his middle, moustache bristling beneath his nose as he cleared his throat.

'Sorry, Harold, I was just looking at the photographs again myself. Right, so you can confirm this is yourself in the image and this is the man who assaulted you. You said he didn't speak directly to you, what was he said to the girl if you can remember?'

'The girl was trying to pull the man away, she was shouting at him afraid he was going to kill me. _I_ was afraid he was going to kill me to be honest. His hands were round my throat and he was squeezing, I couldn't breathe, the old ticker's not what it used to be,' Harold said, thumping his chest gently with one balled fist. 'He said something about me having been following them or something. I swear I hadn't been though, I was on my way to a telecommunications conference in Surrey, I'm in the telecommunications business myself you know, and I'd just popped into the petrol station to top up my tank. Helen doesn't like me to let the gauge drop below the quarter mark, she's worried I'll get stranded somewhere I think. My job takes me all over the place.'

'May I ask whereabouts in Surrey this conference took place? We might get a better idea of where they were heading.'

'I was on my way to Guildford, Sergeant.' Rose nodded as Joffa continued to write.

'And this happened at the BP service station on the A3?'

'Yes, Sergeant Rose. It was fairly late; we were the only two cars on the forecourt at the time. I didn't notice if anyone was in the shop, I was too busy getting away.'

'The cashier was the only one present that night; he was the one that contacted us as he recognised the girl from the news reports.'

'That was very kind; I didn't want to cause a fuss you see. It was only because I had to ring Helen when I got to the hotel, she can't sleep until she's heard from me no matter how late it is. She does fuss.' He smiled a little fondly at the thought of his twitchy bird of a wife.

'Did you happen to catch any names for either of them, Harold?' Rose asked.

'Well, it all happened so fast you see,' Rose nodded in resignation, trying desperately not to roll his eyes at the balding and excitable but desperate-to-be-helpful man sitting beside the lanky young detective, who was topping up everyone's fussy china cups with tea. Harold took a sip and let out a drawn out sigh. 'Now that you ask the question though, Sergeant, I do remember the girl shouting 'Gene' or 'Gin' at him, something like that. I remember it because I thought it was rather a strange name at the time.' Rose's ears, and interest, visibly perked up.

'Gin as in with ice and a slice, you think?' piped up Joffa, earning himself a narrowed glance from his sergeant.

'Well, yes, that was my first thought you see, but then it was a traumatic turn of events for me at the time and I am partial to a cheeky one or two on a bad day. But the name could just have easily been Gene or something of the sort. I'm terribly sorry, detectives; I'm not being too helpful am I?' Harold asked, earnestly. Rose smiled in his gruff, bristly way at the eager Harold.

'You're doing just fine, Harold, thank you. Now, let us just get a few more details before we get you to sign your statement and get out of your hair.' Joffa snorted into his tea, scalding his chin.

A full hour later saw the two officers ensconced in the unmarked job car parked at the curb outside the Shakeshaft's residence, statement completed and signed, carefully filed in the briefcase on the backseat. Joffa was busy trying to find a safe spot in the car for the two slices of fruit cake and three muffins Helen Shakeshaft had sent him off with, wrapped carefully in a square of tinfoil. Rose was scrutinising the photographs of the garage attack.

'I just don't understand how we could have missed these bruises on her face,' Rose muttered for the third time since reaching the car, a dark blue '11 plate Toyota. He ran his fingertips beneath his nose, ruffling his moustache and then smoothing it down in a thoughtful sort of way.

'I don't see the significance myself, Sarge,' Joffa said, finally deciding to stash his cake in the side pocket of the passenger door, where he could easily reach it should he feel the need on the journey back to the station.

'It poses the question as to whether we've been barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps our other suspect, Mr Stony-face, is the one that had been pushing our little chicky. Could be our murder was a trick gone wrong…' he raised a bushy, greying brow at Joffa, inviting the younger man to see his theory. 'We might have more luck showing our ladies a photo of _this_ guy, instead of the victims and I think we need to do a little more digging on Alex Caelum, the guy the flat was rented by and who happens to be the registered keeper of this flashy little number,' he said, tapping the photograph he held which showed a sliver of the Mercedes on the garage forecourt. 'I think that name is an alias and if we can discover a little bit more then I'm pretty sure it'll lead us back to this Gene or Gin that Harold Shakeshaft can verify. Get back to uniform, get them flashing this mugshot at all the girls that get bought in tonight, perhaps the local prozzies can shed a little more light on who this guy is, if he's known in the Alley,' He said, referring to the stretch of road in Peckham more commonly known as 'No-knickers Alley' on account of the volume of prostitutes patrolling for a few quid beneath the glow of the street-lights. Joffa pulled his seatbelt on, shaking his head which caused his shaggy brown hair to flop about lazily.

'I don't get your obsession with prozzies and pimps, Sarge, it's unhealthy. There's more to life than 'the ladies of the night,'' he said with a grin, using the DI's favoured expression. 'Perhaps it's time you found yourself a girlfriend, then your mind wouldn't be sitting in the gutter twenty-four/seven.' The DS snorted, ramming the car into gear with a little more force than was necessary, causing the tyres to squeal on the slick, wet road as he performed a swift three-point turn and headed off in the direction of the station.

'I've got that old itch I usually get in these cases,' Rose muttered, gruffly. 'And I've not yet scratched the wrong place.' Joffa coughed to mask his amusement, reaching for his tinfoil package.

'You might want to get that looked at, Sarge.'

'Just call it in, Joffa. I think it's time for a pit-stop.' Rose could feel the sharp burn of indigestion he usually got when he skipped meals, and he'd not had a chance to wolf down any breakfast that morning before he had to leave his pokey one bedroomed flat that he shared, all be it reluctantly, with his ginger cat, Moggy.

'Too right, I'm starving! Mind if we swing by Maccy D's? They've re-released the Big Tasty, Sarge, been _ages_ since I had one of them.'


	21. Chapter 21

Theresa O'Malley was smaller than Eutopia remembered, petite and pixie-like with shining copper hair streaked through with silver at the front that showed where she'd swept it all up into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. Her warm grey eyes, so like Mike's and crinkled at the edges from a life of bestowing easy smiles, widened in surprise when she opened the front door of their two bed terraced townhouse later that morning.

'Jaysus, Mary 'un Joseph save me soul if it isn't Topi!' Her hand rested on her chest for a moment as she caught a breath, before she stepped back, widening the gap in the doorway to allow them through. 'Come inside and have a drink, so you will. Michael, Michael!' Theresa closed the door swiftly, squeezing past the almost impossibly large form of Jinn, who took up most of the hallway, to shout up the staircase. 'Michael Thomas O'Malley would you get down these stairs this instant!?' She whirled, a sudden blur of pale blue wool and bright copper hair and the musical lilt of her faded Irish accent, as she caught Eutopia up in a hug. 'Oh my goodness me, it's so good to see you, little one! Michael said he'd spoken to you. We've watched all those reports on the television, so we have, but we don't believe one bit of it. Where've you been these past few years?' Her small, cool hands caught up Eutopia's face, gently cupping it as she smiled deep into the girls eyes. 'I often wondered what happened to you. Come, come, and don't let me keep you from a cuppa.'

Theresa whirled again, a constant blur of delicate motion like a hummingbird's wing as she led the way down the narrow hallway to the kitchen at the back of the house leaving Eutopia and Jinn, almost knocked sideways in the onslaught of her unexpected enthusiastic greeting, helpless but to follow her.

'How are you, Theresa?' Eutopia asked, pulling out one of spindly metal-framed chairs at the table that the small woman gestured to as she flitted about the bright but faded kitchen, filling up the kettle with water at the sink. Jinn squeezed himself into a chair beside Eutopia, which strained loudly beneath his heavy frame, as he looked around with quiet interest.

'I'm very well, thank you dear. Thomas passed away from us almost three years this November, God rest his soul,' she lifted a fragile gold chain from around her neck and lightly kissed the tiny crucifix that hung from it in a swift and unconscious gesture before letting it fall back into the folds of her woollen jumper. 'But I have my Michael back; he's been my rock these past few years.' She beamed at Eutopia, dropping teabags into four mugs she'd set on the counter top before her grey eyes found Jinn's. 'D'yer take sugar in yer tea, dear?' she asked him, without batting an eyelid.

Eutopia had always warmed to Mike's mum, Theresa. It was impossible to spend more than a minute with her without being totally overcome by her tenderness and she had never been one to ask too many questions either, she accepted everything in her stride as it fell at her feet. Eutopia had visited the three storey townhouse on occasion whilst she'd been hanging around with Mike and Kayla and had successfully navigated Jinn to the right street almost straight away, though it had taken at least twenty minutes of deliberation outside in the car before she would let Jinn knock on the door. She hadn't been one hundred per cent sure of the number and didn't think it was a good idea to go knocking here there and everywhere in the hope of finding the right house. It wasn't until she saw Nala, the pretty tortoiseshell cat that belonged to the O'Malleys, perched on the wall of the small front garden cleaning her whiskers in the grey morning light that she dared climb out of the car. Jinn, silent up until then, shook his head with a smile.

'No thank you, Mrs O'Malley.' His ethereal beauty seemed somehow at home in the outdated but clean and homely surroundings of the kitchen, emphasising the comforting normality of the room rather than detracting from it, despite the fact he almost occupied the entire kitchen alone. Eutopia noted that nothing seemed to have changed since her last visit, from the chipped and hard brown tiles of the floor to the mock-granite worktops of Formica that stretched the length of one wall of the narrow kitchen.

Theresa had turned back to the kettle, filling the mugs with the water that had just boiled as Mike entered the room, rubbing a hand over the rusty stubble that bristled from his head where a mass of shoulder-length dreads used to hang. Black framed glasses, bold and square, perched on his nose, slipping down as he yawned widely. He'd trimmed his straggly facial hair into a short, neat beard which added overall to an entirely studious appearance. Eutopia blinked in surprise. Gone were the torn and dirty camouflage combats, the hand-knitted and multi-coloured jumpers he used to dig out from the forgotten depths of the most obscure charity shops, replaced instead with a casual pair of grey joggers and a t-shirt emblazoned with some bands insignia. He looked healthier than Eutopia had ever seen him before and it made her smile. He paused in the doorway, catching sight of the two figures at the table.

'Topi?' he asked in surprise, as his mother had merely moments before. Mike didn't share the musical lilt of Theresa's accent, but he had her gentle grey eyes and copper hair, when he didn't shave it off. Eutopia grinned, the knot of anxiety she'd felt at waiting to see her old friend disappeared immediately as his eyes crinkled and he rushed in to scoop her up in a huge hug. Jinn's indigo eyes, emitting a wary and watchful glow, never left the shorter man as Mike wrapped his arms around Eutopia and pulled her close.

'Wow, lady, you've grown! You were the last person I expected to see at eight AM this morning.' He let go of her, setting her back on her feet so that she could resume her place at the table as Theresa set the four steaming mugs of tea down before them. He stretched out with another yawn. 'Cheers, Mam,' he said, wrapping both hands around his polka dot mug. Eutopia accepted her tea and took a grateful sip. She smiled at Mike, who still looked half asleep.

'Late night last night was it?' she asked, half teasing as she remembered all the late nights they had experienced together, sitting in parks with a bottle of vodka between them talking dreamily of the future they wanted, or dancing away until the early hours at unexpected house parties or raves they came across as they had wondered aimlessly through whatever town they happened to be in at the time. Such unsocial hours had never bothered him then; he must be getting old she thought with a sentimental inward smile, if they are starting to take their toll now.

'Yes actually, it was quite late. I'm in my final year of a politics degree and trying to get as much of my dissertation done as possible.' Eutopia was taken aback by that, completely thrown by how much Mike seemed to have his life on track already.

'Wow, that's amazing. You have been busy!'

'Seems like we both have, eh?' Mike said lifting one red eyebrow as his gentle grey eyes settled on Jinn across the table. Jinn gave a slight, stiff nod and extended his huge hand to him.

'Jinn,' he said, shaking Mike's hand by way of introduction.

'Ahh, the elusive and extremely dangerous suspect.' Mike was just as unflappable as his mother, taking the bumps and dips of life with passive acceptance and a hint of humour. He nodded his shorn head sagely, arms crossed over his chest as he studied Jinn with open and un-hostile curiosity. Jinn sat relaxed and at ease, hands resting around his warm mug of tea but Eutopia looked uncomfortable as she noted the wariness that still flickered in his gaze. She remembered the incident at the service station, calling to mind the irrational outburst of paranoid anger that had seen the monster of a man throw a stranger over his own car bonnet. She shifted in her seat and cleared her throat.

'Mike,' she began, haltingly, nibbling her lower lip and raising her eyes to follow a crack in the patchy ceiling as she desperately tried to find the words to explain why, after two whole years without any contact with the guy that had once taken on the role of mother, father and brother to a friendless fifteen year old, she had turned up on his doorstep and expected a favour. 'I'm sorry I never contacted you, especially after your Dad…' Mike raised a hand and waved her words aside unconcerned as Theresa stood up.

'This washin' won't sort itself, so it won't. I'll leave you two to catch up. But Topi,' she said sternly, turning her shining grey eyes onto the girl. 'Don't you go a'disappearin' on me again, little one. At least not until yeh've said goodbye this time.' She smiled warmly and stooped to hoist a large basket of clothes that had already been washed, ironed and folded neatly.

'Jinn?' Eutopia ventured quietly. 'Mike's mum might want a hand…' she prompted. Theresa flapped the hesitant suggestion away with a free hand in a gesture reminiscent of her son's, the other hand supporting the plastic washing basket against her bony hip.

'Of course not, dear. The devil makes work for idle hands, Topi. I must keep myself busy, so I must.' And with that she swept out of the kitchen leaving the comforting scent of clean laundry in her wake. Jinn shrugged his shoulders a little, his eyes stony as he turned to look at Eutopia. His arms were folded across the barrel of his chest and it was obvious to Eutopia from the set of his jaw that he didn't plan on leaving the kitchen any time soon.

'Please, could I just have some time alone with Mike?' Her tone was more subdued and Eutopia was silently incredulous at the beseeching note her words took. Since when did she ever have to ask, or practically beg, his permission for anything? A long and noiseless pause followed as Jinn seemed to contemplate her request. 'I'm sat in the kitchen of an old terraced house, surrounded by suburbia out on the hunt for my blood, I'm hardly going to make a bolt for it,' Eutopia added almost scathingly. Finally, after some further thought, Jinn gave a reluctant nod and slowly unfurled his bulk from the chair.

'I'll be upstairs,' he said, with a lingering look at Mike that the other man took as almost some kind of unspoken warning. Mike had watched and listened to the exchange between Eutopia and Jinn with interest, slouched easily back in his own chair.

'Please, Mrs O'Malley, let me help you with that,' Jinn called after Theresa, just loud enough for her to hear. He left the kitchen and ducked out of the doorway.

'There's so much I want to tell you, Mike, everything that's happened over the past few days but I just can't. Not yet.'

'Just tell me truthfully that it wasn't Jinn that caused those bruises and I'll be happy,' he said in his calm, almost unconcerned way.

'Oh!' Eutopia's fingers hesitantly touched the small wound on her lip that had almost healed already, tracing over the yellowed bloom on her cheek. They really hadn't been as severe as they'd first looked, having almost disappeared now. Eutopia had pretty much forgotten about them. 'No, of course it wasn't Jinn! Something… happened and he was there luckily enough to make sure it didn't get any worse.' Her cheeks blazed and her dark eyes clouded for a moment at the memory as she met Mike's level, searching gaze. There had been a time when he could read every twitch and flicker of her face, despite the hazy stupor of weed that he had existed in most of the time, and that moment was no different. He blinked.

'I would have killed them too,' he said without venom. 'I tried calling you back but you must have had no signal. I thought you weren't able to come back to London until you found Will?'

'I've lost my phone; I had no other way of contacting you and I need to find Will as soon as possible so I can straighten this whole mess out. I've never been more confused in my life, Mike; I just want this whole mess to go away.' She thought of her relatively uncomplicated life before London. Her cosy but boring little café job, her cramped but clean flat with the mis-matched furniture and her simple daydream of a straightforward and joyful reunion with her brother. Then she thought of the achingly beautiful Jinn, her hot-headed and violent avenging angel that had turned her life and her beliefs almost completely on their head in a matter of days. Could things ever get back to normal? Did she even want them to? Mike nodded.

'I understand that. I wouldn't much like to be splashed all over T.V like that either. But I did some digging like I said but I don't shift in the circles I used to. My Dad dying gave me the shake-up I needed. I had to be strong for my Mam so kicked the habit almost straight away. I've been clean pretty much ever since so have little cause to lurk with the backstreeters like I used to.' Eutopia smiled at the familiar word they'd used to describe the drop-outs and drifters that flitted in and out of their lives all those years ago.

Mike had come from a happy home, with a firm and loving foundation but he had rebelled all the same with no rhyme or reason other than the simple fact that he could. Eutopia remembered one particular evening, almost five years ago to the day, when she and Mike had been slumped under a ramp at a skate park in some obscure little town in Hampshire that they'd caught the train to earlier that day. They'd both been turfed off, much to their amusement, at the town's station when the sharp nosed guard realised the tickets they'd found discarded on the floor and tried to pass off as their own actually had the previous days date on. Now they sat huddled in the folds of the enormous and multi-pocketed trench coat that Mike had taken to wearing recently that had been made for a man of twice his width but had been a bargain at just £4 in Oxfam.

His shoulder length dreadlocks tickled Eutopia's cheek as she rested her head on his shoulder, looking up at the small patch of crystal-like stars they could see through the opening of the skate-ramp they had crawled beneath. Mike took a long drink from the half-litre bottle of vodka they'd pooled their money for. He'd had to buy it since his straggly and overgrown beard made him appear older than he really was, though at twenty-two he had the ID to show should he need it. At just sixteen and with her wide, childlike eyes Eutopia never had any chance of buying the alcohol without arousing suspicion, though she never had any qualms in drinking it.

She did, however, draw the line at smoking, especially when it came down to the fragrant-scented weed that Mike favoured. She could see the cherry-red ember of his rollup as he took a drag with one hand, passing her the vodka with the other. She took a swig and pulled a face immediately. She hated the taste, it was as harsh as the scent of the paint-stripping liquid her foster father Andrew had used in her room once when he'd been redecorating and she could feel it hacking at the back of her throat now. But she loved the initial burn as it slipped to her stomach, consuming the dark shadows that clouded her mind with each sip. Eutopia drank to forget. Mike drank to rebel against a society he felt was unfair and that was the topic of that evenings rant.

'Like why the hell should I go out there and get a job, slave away for minimum wage just so the fuckin' government can take their Christmas bonus out of the money I've earned. I'm not workin' for no-fuckin'-body, not when I can just sit back at let the government pay for me. Ya know, my Dad, he's worked ever since he was eleven years old?' he rambled in his unhurried, stilted way. His tone was mellow and quiet, despite the ferocity of his feeling.

'Eleven?!' Eutopia spluttered, the vodka half raised to her lips. 'Isn't that illegal?'

'Not at the time he was growing up in Ireland it wasn't.' Mike blew a stream of hazy blue smoke from between his lips and they both watched it curling lazily up into the clear night air, twisting delicate tendrils into fantastical shapes before fading into nothingness. 'I never want to be like that, lady, there ain't no pride in workin' for no one or for nothin'. You should see him, old before his time. Bet he's dead before he hits fifty-five.'

'Mike!' Eutopia admonished, passing back the bottle. 'That's a horrible thing to say.'

'Well it's true,' he defended himself; 'you should see him. He's all grey now. Last time I spoke to my Mam she said his blood pressure's up again. Honestly, you won't ever see me slavin' away for nobody, lady.'

'Why don't you go home, Mike?' Eutopia asked, upping her concentration level now as the vodka began to numb her lips and loosen her muscles. 'If I had a home like yours I know I'd never leave it.'

'I don't want to end up like my Dad, Topi. I want more than that.' He took one last drag on his joint, flicking the fading cherry of his dog-end into the blackness as he followed it up with a swig from the vodka bottle. 'I'm gonna change the world, lady.' Mike sighed with contentment, laying back to cradle his head with his hands. Eutopia followed him in an attempt to stay in the warmth of his trench coat. 'I'm gonna change theee WORLD!' They had both fallen into fits of giggles at that point and back in the kitchen at number 23 The Gardens, at the table with a matured Mike, a ghost of a smile tugged at Eutopia's lips at the memory.

'I did hear something though that I thought might be useful,' Mike offered. Eutopia sat up a little straighter, leaning across the table top.

'You did? Oh Mike! Anything you can give me will be a starting point. I literally have nothing to go on myself anyway other than his name.'

'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…' he drained the dregs of his tea.

'What?'

'Will, he could have changed his name.' Eutopia bit her lip as she contemplated that, her brow creasing in worry.

'You're right,' she said. 'I never thought of that. What will I do then? Oh, Mike this is all such a mess!'

'Hey, lady, you got me on the case now. I won't give up. D'you remember Maria?' Eutopia nodded, recalling the hard faced, painfully thin woman with straggly brown hair that used to supply Mike with his weed. She had lived on the far outskirts of London in a grubby tower block that was well past its date with a bulldozer, even then.

'Yes,' she said carefully, wondering where this was going.

'She has a cousin, Kev, who sort of used to hang around with us back then. Not regularly, like, but anyway, he enrolled in one of my modules last term. He mentioned something a few weeks ago when we met for a catch up session. We don't start back until October, but we're trying to get ahead. Anyway,' he leant back languidly in his chair, as was his infuriating calm manner. An unaffected yawn stretched his mouth as he laced his hands behind his head. 'He mentioned someone in passing who's started hanging about with Maria and the name just stuck with me… dogged me all week 'til I thought of checking him out on his profile. The likeness to you is just, well...' He slipped a sleek and shiny widescreen phone from his pocket and let his fingertips caress the screen expertly, alternately making tapping and pinching motions that Eutopia found amusing. 'Here, see for yourself.' Mike laid the phone on the table directly in front of her with the screen facing upwards. He had zoomed in on an image of a dark haired man with ice blue eyes that glittered from the flash of the camera. His nose was a stronger more defined version of Eutopia's but the similarity of features was uncanny.

'It's Will!' Eutopia squeaked, flinging her chair back in her haste as she stood, toppling it to the floor as she plucked the phone from the table top. 'It's him, I know it! Look, see, he looks just like me!' But in her excitement she had overlooked the hollow, sunken cheeks, the haunted bleary eyes that were captured by the photo. Mike lay a gentle hand on Eutopia's, covering the screen of his phone and guiding her back to the table. Eutopia looked up at him, her smile hesitating as she reached down to set right her chair and regain her seat opposite him. 'What?' she asked. With a flick of his fingertips Mike zoomed out of the image and took them back to what was evidently a home screen. The photo Eutopia had recognised had shrunk to a thumbnail in the top left corner and words in a bold font marched across the top of a blue banner, taking pride of place instead.

'This is his networking profile. The name here is 'Jason Bracken'.' He looked carefully at Eutopia as she frowned for a moment.

'Jason? But it's Will, this is definitely Will. It's my brother, Mike, I know it.' Mike nodded, having seen the resemblance to Eutopia himself.

'That's what I thought and also why I suggested that he may be using another name.'

'Why would he do that?' Eutopia asked, clearly confused.

'Oh, I could think of a million reasons, Miss Lucy Penfold,' Mike grinned and Eutopia gave a brittle laugh.

'Point taken. Can't say I've had much use for aliases these days. I thought my police-dodging days were over.'

'Until now,' Mike helpfully pointed out.

'Yes, until now,' she agreed. 'You think he goes by a different name now because he's in trouble?' Eutopia could feel a creeping sadness nudging its way into her heart, especially as she recalled the sharp-featured, greasy-haired Maria who had been well known for her ability to get her bony hands on any illegal substance requested. What was he doing with her? Will had never exactly been an angel when he was younger, but neither had she. She understood a child caught pick-pocketing or shop-lifting would lie to the police about a name in an effort to avoid a spell in a cell and a visit from a social worker, but what could he have done that was so dramatic that he felt the need to give himself a new identity? Was he involved with drugs? Mike drew a breath and let it out slowly through his pursed lips as he watched the situation unfold in the girl's mind.

'Well,' he pointed to a link on the screen and looked up at Eutopia. 'You ready for this part?' Eutopia nodded, her brow drawn in puzzlement. She watched as Mike tapped and manipulated the screen again and then almost choked on her own stilted breath as two images stood out in stark relief from the thumbnail photographs that followed one after another from top to bottom. She'd been haunted for the past two nights by those pale, fishy eyes and those boyish features that she'd last seen twisted in rage and then beamed back at her from what seemed to be every T.V she'd come into contact with.

'He's friends with the two men they've been showing in the appeal, the two that were murdered,' Mike pointed out needlessly. Eutopia's blood ran cold in her veins, causing her to shiver.

'The men that attacked me,' Eutopia clarified. ' _Nephilim,'_ she whispered as Jinn's terminology sprang unbidden to her mind and another involuntary tremble wracked her body.

'Someone walk over your grave?' Mike quipped, half-amused.

'Not for lack of trying, it would seem.'

'What?'

'I don't know.' She sighed. 'I don't know Mike! I just don't know what the hell is going on anymore.'

'I think I do.' The deep, unexpected voice caused them both to turn to find Jinn lounging, or rather, blocking the narrow doorway of the kitchen with his bulky frame and a heavy look. He unfolded his arms and stalked across the room to look over Eutopia's shoulder. He cast a brief glance at the images on Mike's phone and gave a barely perceptible nod before sitting down, stony and silent again beside her.

'Well, do you fancy sharing your insight on my life?' she demanded.

'Not at the moment.'

'Oh, well thanks for that. I'll just sit here mentally torturing myself until you decide the time is right to shed some light on the reasons why I might be the target for some mentally unstable rejects and a cast off for my identity confused older brother.' Mike blinked slowly; hardly surprised at her sudden outburst and Jinn stared openly at her.

'Have you finished?' he asked, calmly. Eutopia's cheeks flushed with her anger as she stood up, dark eyes narrowed.

'No, actually, I haven't!' Her fists were clenched hard at her sides and her delicate jaw tensed in an effort to either hold back screaming a tirade of abuse or to prevent sob after shaking sob from escaping her. It was an expression Mike knew from old, that fiery temper that bubbled beneath her wide, childlike eyes. And it was an expression that Jinn was beginning to get acquainted with quite quickly. Yet again her head was sent reeling, stumbling against the weight of information that had just besieged it and Eutopia believed it was more likely the crying that would win out. Mike and Jinn waited silently for her frustration to boil over, they could see her trembling.

'Argggggh,' Eutopia finally managed between clenched teeth, her arms stiff at her sides as she swiftly fled the room. The two men could hear the thump of her footsteps as she headed upstairs. Mike let out a slow breath and Jinn motioned to the phone the red-haired man had slipped back in his pocket.

'So, Jason Bracken?' he asked.

'It was Will's father's name. Jason. Eutopia, Topi, she never talks about him, apart from the one time years ago I managed to get out of her. Will and Eutopia are only half brother and sister; they share the same mother but not the same father. Topi's father was a violent drunk, not that she'll ever admit that, she's always pretended he was never in her life and thinks that in pretending it will simply erase his presence completely. Her mother escaped to a refuge when Topi was three. Will had a different father but it doesn't seem their mother ever really knew the man. She never spoke about him anyway, or so Topi says.' Mike stood up and stretched with another yawn. 'More tea?'

Jinn, pensive, deep in thought, shook his head. 'You care about her, don't you?' he asked, his deep blue eyes searching and a little more open than they had been.

'I love the lady, she's like a sister to me. Always has been. She's the daughter my Mam never had. At least she would've been, if I'd ever given her the chance to be.' Mike turned to flip the switch on the kettle and then leant back against the sideboard, one arm tucked beneath the opposite armpit as his other hand rubbed wistfully at his head, as though lamenting the disappearance of his dreadlocks. 'I do regret that you know, not being there for her in the way she needed me. If I'd been less self-centred back then maybe I could have opened the door for her. Mam fawned all over her the handful of times I bought her back here and Topi was always happy here but I never thought much of anyone other than myself back then and I didn't want to be here. She would have followed me to the end of the world and back, then.' Mike turned back to the white plastic kettle that was producing a fierce amount of steam as it bubbled to the boil and dropped a teabag into his mug from the lidded ceramic pot on the side.

'What happened then? How come you went your separate ways?' The gentle chink of a teaspoon against china was the only sound in the kitchen for a long moment as Mike stirred his tea, helping himself to a slosh of milk from the carton that had been left out.

'Drugs,' he said finally, slouching unhurriedly back into his chair at the table as he met Jinn's curious gaze. 'I got caught up in that black hole and just sank deeper and deeper. She needed more from me than I could give, like I said I was selfish back then. I couldn't see anything but that black balloon, the need for crack, you know? I started off with the odd joint, weed, became an everyday habit and she could cope with that. But then I wanted something more, some other high and I got swept up in the harder stuff and she needed someone that could help her. I could barely help myself so we just drifted apart. I lost a lot through that habit.' He gave a resigned shrug.

'But you've got yourself sorted now.' Jinn smiled genially.

'Yeah, had to do it for Mam, if not for me. And I owed it to me Dad, really, after he passed. I know he would want me here to look after her.' Mike returned the easy smile and a comfortable silence settled between them for a while, broken only by the slurp as Mike drank his tea.

'If you ever hurt her, I'll hunt you down and kill you,' he said eventually, with no malice at all.

'Oh, I have no doubt, Mike. I'd expect nothing else.' Jinn grinned and they both nodded as if that settled the matter.


	22. Chapter 22

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Eirene's confusion spilled into anger as she mulled over the conversation she had overheard between Jinn and Liviana. She had taken a few moments to gather her composure after gently closing the shutters. On one hand her body trembled with delight – to think Jinn had never revealed his wings, his true self to anyone but her! The thought chased away any crumb of doubt she may have had about his love for her. At least he was telling the truth about that. But could she believe it, even now, if he was withholding information about the whereabouts of Germanus? She ran both hands through her long hair; eyes closed and stamped one small foot as she uttered a stifled cry of frustration. Should she talk to him about what she'd heard? But then she would have to reveal that she'd been listening. Without a second thought Eirene headed for the door and took the back stairs that led out to the main tavern below two at a time, with every intention of confronting him. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Jinn had forbidden her to leave their room before he had ventured downstairs with the promise of acquiring some form of dinner for Eirene. She hadn't been bothered by the instruction at the time, from what she'd seen of the large public room below on their way in it wasn't really a place she would choose to spend her time in anyway. But now, that instruction rankled her greatly as she saw the tall, striking form of her Master leaning against the countertop deep in conversation with a pretty blonde woman; though her prettiness paled in comparison to Liviana's haunting beauty that still etched itself upon Eirene's lids whenever she closed her eyes. Her stomach growled at the rich smell of roasting meat and stewed fish, reminding her that Jinn hadn't bought anything up for her as promised and, by the looks of it, he didn't plan to anytime soon. She narrowed her eyes, feeling her anger towards him bubbling even more fiercely as she caught a fold of the tunica of a passing woman who had her arms laden with used dishes and an earthenware jug. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I'll have a bowl of whatever meat you've got and a jug of wine please.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"The woman, a rounded middle-aged lady with straggly brown hair greying at her temples and a heavily lined face eyed the girl for a moment, taking in the gleaming collar at her throat with a sour expression. She twitched her tunica out of Eirene's fingers with a swift jerk of her hips and stalked off towards the counter where the tavern-keeper, possibly her husband watched the exchange silently. Jinn, on the other hand still hadn't noticed Eirene as his back was turned towards her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"The woman said something to the man behind the counter, nodding her head in Eirene's direction as she filled up the empty jug she had collected with one hand, from a much larger jug, and tidied away the used dishes at the same time with the other, adding a few more stains to her already grubby tunica as she did so. The man was as stout and robust as the woman, ruddy cheeked with narrow, suspicious eyes that Eutopia didn't like the look of. Especially when they raked over her in such a brazen way as they were now. He gestured to the woman briefly before Eirene saw him hesitantly approach the end of the counter where Jinn remained deep in conversation. A simpering look that sickened Eirene clung to the man's face as he interrupted whatever meaningful discussion Jinn was having, gesturing to where Eirene sat. Jinn straightened up at once and Eirene caught the surprise and perhaps anger that flashed in his dark eyes as he spun towards her. He had whirled around so quickly that Eirene hadn't been prepared for his beautiful features, made all the more striking by the gentle light of the oil-filled lamps placed about the room for illumination. There was a sudden fierceness to his expression that Eirene wasn't expecting but she caught sight of the woman he had been talking to, who leant around Jinn's broad shoulders to follow his gaze. Eirene swallowed whatever doubt may have been creeping up on her then, tossing her head to shake the loose hair from her eyes, her chin raised a little higher as she deliberately avoided her Master's eyes. Focusing on some distant point to the left of him she missed the nod of assent Jinn gave to the tubby man, who in turn nodded to his wife. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"The warm scent of roasted chicken made Eirene's mouth water as soon as the dish was placed in front of her. A quick glance revealed Jinn had turned back to continue talking to the blonde woman at his side, his head bowed low as he listened in earnest to whatever she was saying to him. Eirene reached for the small brown jug that had been set beside her meal and she drained it without bothering to decant it into the plain cup that had also been placed upon the table. The tavern owner gazed at her astonished; his pale fishy eyes had already been busily raking over the girl in a rather lecherous way. Eirene made good use of the eye contact as she raised the jug slightly, signalling for it to be filled again as she set to on the chicken, feeling the greasy meat still hot beneath her fingers. Considering it probably had been left over from lunch earlier in the day it wasn't half bad. The man strode from around the counter, blustering and flustered as he snagged the much larger jug from the wooden top and made his way to the back of the room where Eirene sat. His plainly woven tunic stretched taught across his belly, pulling tighter still as he stooped to look the girl straight in the eye. He put the jug down on the table-top and set a hand either side of Eirene's dish, causing the table to creak ominously beneath his weight. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Your Master has instructed us to give you anything you ask for. If you were mine,' he breathed the stench of rotting fish in her direction as his voice dropped to a much lower note, 'I know exactly what I'd be giving you.' He paused, the lingering of his eyes leaving Eirene in no doubt as to what that would be. 'It most definitely wouldn't be some of the finest meat I serve here and the best wine.' He lifted one meaty hand to fill up the smaller jug with the larger one. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Just leave that jug, please.' Eirene said. The man's thin lips parted in surprise, revealing a flat row of brown stubby teeth that almost put her off her food. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'You're lucky I've seen how fat your Master's purse is. I don't usually tolerate bad mannered slaves,' he sneered mere inches from her face. Eirene reached out for the large jug on the table, wrapping both her hands around the long neck as she struggled to lift the hefty thing to her lips. She took a long, noisy slurp of the wine, sloshing some of it down her chin to dribble onto her tunica. A guttural noise of disgust was emitted by the man as he raised a hand to strike her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Balbus!' barked Jinn, sharply, causing the man to spin from Eirene with that simpering look hastily pasted on his face again. 'You will bring my slave here; I do not think I can trust her to eat alone in the fine atmosphere of your establishment.' Amidst the flickering light of the lamps and followed by the few pairs of worse-for-wear eyes that had earlier tracked the motions of the golden Liviana, the man named Balbus swept the jug of wine and dish of meat from the table and led Eirene towards the front of the tavern. He placed the items down again on a smaller wooden table-top to the left of where Jinn and the mysterious woman were stood against the counter. Jinn nodded at Balbus./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Is there anything else I can get for you, emmi amicus/em?' the rounded man asked eagerly, rubbing his large hands together with his fishy eyes swimming around the heavy purse hanging from Jinn's belt, as though he could already feel the coins in his palm. Jinn smiled though Eirene could see from the table she was now sat at, almost at his elbow, that the smile never reached his dark eyes. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'No, no, emmi senex/em, please do not concern yourself with me now.' Balbus inclined his head and turned his attention reluctantly to a new patron who had ducked into the entrance of the tavern and was rapping on the countertop gently with his knuckles. Jinn turned at once and fell upon the seat beside Eirene, who was busy taking another long drink from the huge wine jug. He was shocked to see the girl had already half drained it during his brief exchange with Balbus. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Eirene,' came his quiet and disgruntled tone, his fingers snaking out to catch the handle and lower the jug which caused the girl to spill a little more of the red liquid as she hurriedly tried to swallow whatever was in her mouth before the vessel could leave her lips. 'What do you think you are doing? Are you trying to force my hand?' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Force your hand to what?' she enquired, her tone emboldened by the copious amount of wine she had already consumed in a very short space of time. The sudden warmth of his palm resting on the back of her neck, beneath the thick curtain of her hair sent a delightful shiver down the length of her spine as Jinn leant in close to breathe into her ear./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'If you will not let me free you and you continue this blatant disregard for your status in public I will have no option but to punish you as befitting a slave, before somebody else does.' His eyes flicked to Balbus, who had finished serving his new customer and was now lounging against the counter and openly staring at the two of them, his thin lips slack to reveal the stumps of his rotting teeth again. Eirene glanced up at Jinn, finding that his eyes were just as serious as his tone had been. The haze of half-numbness that had begun to settle upon her shoulders with each draught of wine glazed her sapphire eyes and she leant into Jinn as he sat beside her, feeling his warmth through her thin tunica. Eirene silently nuzzled her head against his cheek, her raven hair surprisingly soft against his skin despite its tangled state. In her haste to get downstairs Eirene had not thought to tidy herself up from their long journey. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Eirene, you're drunk already.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I do believe I might be, Master. I don't think there's much water in this wine,' she tilted the jug towards herself to peer with interest into the darkest depths of the pottery. Jinn gently pushed it away from her, moving it to the edge of the table as he pulled the bowl of chicken closer./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Eat,' he said firmly to her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Oh, you remembered I need food then?' she muttered, scathingly, with a quick glance at the blonde woman still hovering at the counter with wary eyes fixed on Jinn. He followed Eirene's gaze./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Of course. I'm sorry, I got distracted. I had meant to bring you some food.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Eirene tore a piece of chicken from the bone with her teeth, finding the meat had now gone cold and tasteless but she chewed it automatically and reached for another piece as she took a longer look at the woman who was now fiddling with the blonde hair that had been coiled on top of her head and secured with a thin silver thread. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'She is very pretty, Master, I can see why you were distracted. Especially following your encounter with the Mistress.' She went on chewing her food, carefully extracting a tiny bone from between her teeth. Jinn inhaled sharply and noisily, as if trying to control his emotions through breathing alone. He raised his hand and motioned the woman to come closer. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Eirene, this is Aelia Fabius Flava,' Aelia drew herself up a little taller with a semi-haughty glance at Eirene as Jinn introduced her. 'Aelia, sit please. This is my slave, Eirene.' Aelia sat stiffly opposite Eirene who reached out for the jug of wine with two hands and deftly pulled it towards herself to wash down the cold chicken she had finished chewing. She thought she heard Jinn sigh softly beside her, but couldn't be sure as she was intently studying the woman before her. Aelia, now that she was closer, appeared older than she had first thought, perhaps in her late thirties. Her alabaster skin was faintly lined, stormy grey eyes creased with worry and her lips that once may have been full were now stretched into a thin line that drooped at the corners which lent the air of permanent disgust at everything when coupled with the angular jut of her turned up nose. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Would you like to continue our conversation, Aelia? Or would you rather we talked another time?' Jinn asked gently, choosing to ignore Eirene's quiet mutterings that were lost amidst the depths of the wine jug. Aelia continued to study the girl for a moment, with a bemused expression, before clearing her throat. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Oh, you've been so kind to be concerned as it is, I couldn't possibly expect you to give up any more of your time.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Please, I insist. I wouldn't have interrupted your conversation with our good friend Balbus over there if I didn't believe I could help,' he said, motioning with a nod of his head towards the counter where the portly figure of Balbus was firmly ensconced, continuing to stare at the three of them with such intensity that his eyes appeared to have glazed over and the tiniest amount of drool escaped slickly from one corner of his mouth. Eirene sat back in her chair, feigning disinterest in the conversation as she inspected a fingernail, though the frown she wore was not because of the smudge of dirt she had found settled at the tip of her index finger. Aelia nodded./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I understand that, but your offer, it's so generous and kind, I really don't know how I would repay you.' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I told you, I don't require any repaying. I see this as an investment, a very good investment, not a loan. I'm sure your husband would be very proud of what you could achieve with this opportunity. What are your other options, to beg for employment in places such as this? Or to see your family, your children enslaved?' Aelia twisted her hands in her lap, the knuckles of her thin fingers growing white with the tension as her grey eyes flashed indignantly back at the slave beside him. Eirene stiffened at Jinn's words, eyes narrowed as she cast a glance at him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I know it's a good idea, my husband thought it was before he passed on. His father was meant to be offering the main investment, he even found the premises, but after Fabianus died he refused to acknowledge the deal. Without this my children and I are destitute and I have no one else to turn to.' Eirene swayed gently, listening intently, though the words didn't make a great deal of sense to her. Perhaps she had overdone it on the wine. She pushed the jug away, silently offering the contents to Aelia, who sniffed delicately in disgust, turning her attention back to Jinn. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I can have a contract drawn up if you would like to prove my interest is honourable and that I am expecting to see no returns from the investment. If you can find the premises I can have the required amount sent to you tomorrow,' he said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Aelia blinked rapidly, fighting back the tears that misted her grey eyes. She shook her head, causing loose tendrils of her pale blonde hair to fall down around her angular face and soften her sharp features. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'My son, Fabianus Faustus, is looking at a shop tomorrow. He wrote the address down for me, here,' she slipped a small scroll of papyrus out from the folds of her pale blue tunica and handed it to Jinn, who unrolled it and nodded./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I do not know these parts well, but I will have the amount we discussed ready and waiting at this address before the sun reaches the highest point in the sky tomorrow, unless the premises is unsuitable and I hear otherwise from you. I do believe that my slave and I will be residing here for at least one more night, so if I can be of any further assistance to you, please do come back.' Eirene's eyelids were drooping heavily, despite her best efforts. She was unused to the rich wine and the hushed, earnest conversation between Jinn and Aelia rolled rhythmically over her like the gentle waves she could hear just outside the tavern, lulling her though she couldn't really grasp the deal that was being passed. It seemed as though Jinn was lending, no not lending, giving money to the woman for something. Her eyes jerked open at the sudden movement as Aelia reached across the table to grasp Jinn's hands in her own. She pressed them tightly, fighting back tears again./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Thank you, oh thank you, kind sir. If your words are true then I owe you my life, the lives of my children. This could save us. I never believed that when I walked in here to beg for some form of employment that I would emerge with my lifelong dream about to be realised.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Do not doubt my word; I am a man of my honour, Aelia.' Both Jinn and Aelia glanced at Eirene as she snorted softly, and seemed to scoff, 'Yes, honour,' under her breath. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I have no doubt at all and I am truly, truly grateful. Take this, please.' Eirene watched as Aelia pressed something unseen into Jinn's hand before she stood up and left without a backward glance at either of them. Eirene turned her bleary eyes to Jinn. His lips were pressed into an unrelenting line./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Upstairs,' was all he said to her, but the quiet simplicity of his order caused a sudden wave of shame to colour her cheeks, despite the fuzziness that buzzed gently in her head. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I don't think,' Eirene began, carefully, frowning with concentration as she formed each word slowly. 'I don't think I can stand up, Master.' Jinn's hands cupped her elbows as he stood up himself and helped her to her feet beside him. Without any warning he had scooped her up effortlessly into his arms and cradled Eirene to his solid chest. Eirene closed her eyes as a sudden urge to be sick swooped upon her at the rocking motion as he began to walk across the room./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Are you ok?' he asked, quietly as he noticed her wincing in his arms./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I don't think I should have eaten all that chicken.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Oh, the chicken? Nothing to do with sinking enough wine to drown Bacchus?' Even with her eyes closed, Eirene could hear the hint of a smile in his tone. She felt the cooler air of the stairwell and knew they'd left the main tavern. Eirene relaxed into Jinn's warmth just as she felt the firmness of the straw mattress beneath her. She sat up, clutching her head as her vision swam and her bare feet met the floor. Jinn sat beside her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'What was tonight about, Eirene?' he asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I'm not exactly sure, some secret deal I think.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I wasn't referring to my meeting with Aelia. And there was nothing secret about that, it was just unexpected. Aelia happened to be looking for a way to support her family, she was begging Balbus to employ her and I could just imagine the sort of employment he had in mind. I offered to fund an investment opportunity that would see her family taken care of so that she has no need to worry.' He could see his explanation was just as obscure to Eirene as it had been downstairs, as she'd tried to work out what was going on. The wine still had an iron-grip on her conscious thoughts, so instead, he held out his hand to Eirene, palm up, so she could see something twinkling, balanced precariously there. She reached out, lifting it up to catch the glow of the lamplight. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'It's a ring. A gold ring.' She fingered the delicate filigree that wound around a hollow to create a perfect little circle. She could make out tiny little leaves attached to the miniscule golden vines. 'It's so pretty, so unusual.' Jinn nodded./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Aelia makes them, she makes jewellery. It's the business I'm paying into to help her get established.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'How generous of you.' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'It's what I do. I'm a Guardian, Eirene. I'm here to help people.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Then why won't you help me?' she demanded, suddenly, her eyes blazing with all the confusion and anger she felt from the moment she'd opened the window shutters to see the two angelic figures below. 'You know where my brother is, Jinn. Why won't you tell me? What do you know that will hurt me beyond reason?' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Jinn glanced sharply at her, eyebrows raised for a moment as he caught the phrase Liviana had used earlier. He knew then that Eirene had been listening. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I am a Guardian,' he said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'So you keep saying.' Jinn began to pace the small room, his gaze intense but settled on nothing as his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'But I haven't been entirely honest with you about my responsibilities as a Guardian.' Eirene settled back on the bed, leaning against the wall as she slipped the gold ring onto her thumb, rubbing it with the tip of her index finger as she watched Jinn take long and measured strides from one end of the room to the other and back again. 'I help people on their journeys from this life to the next, that's what I meant when I said 'ultimate transcendence'.' He paused for a moment, turning around to study Eirene as she frowned at him deeply, concentration etched in her wine-sleepy eyes. For a moment Jinn was worried Eirene was too drunk to get his true meaning, but her blue eyes widened slowly as her fuzzy brain unravelled the truth. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Death. You mean death. You lead people on a journey to their death.' Jinn nodded, silently, his dark eyes fixed on her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'And,' Eirene swallowed hard, eyes drifting down to settle on the band of gold she twisted absently around her thumb. 'And… You were sent here for me, to be my Guardian. To lead me to my death?' She looked up at Jinn for confirmation, the blood draining from her face as she stood shakily on her feet./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Yes,' he said flatly, with a nod. Eirene raised a hand to her head to try and steady the dizzy wave that washed over her. Jinn crossed the room in three long strides and stood before Eirene before she could take a hesitant step, which was just as well as she swayed dangerously on her feet and probably would have fallen over if he had not guided her firmly back down to the bed. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'But I told you, things are different this time. I love you. I've never felt like this about anyone before. I don't know how many times I need to tell you that. It was my duty to lead you to the next life but I swear I will do everything in my power to protect you. I'm not ready to give you up.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Eirene looked down at where his large, warm hands covered her own much smaller ones as they lay on her lap. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I don't understand what this has to do with my brother, though. You said you would help me find him. You promised me.' Jinn gazed deep into her eyes for a moment, registering the hurt and confusion that simmered below the wine-glazed sapphire surface. He seemed to be silently weighing something up within his own thoughts. When he spoke his tone was low and steady./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Everyone has a set path to follow and as a Guardian it is my duty to lead you on that journey. The terms of your life, trials and tribulations are written already. I am not permitted to change what has been decided, but I cannot let it be. I can steer you off the course that has been chosen for you, even though it means trouble for the both of us.' Eirene blinked slowly at him, his soft tone lulling her weary senses and stripping the meaning from his words. A smile touched his lips as her eyes half-closed. Jinn stood up and with gentle hands lifted Eirene's feet from the floor, carefully swinging her legs around so that her whole frame rested on the straw mattress of the bed. With a light, yet firm nudge to her shoulder he made the girl lay down and he covered her up with the plain spun woollen blanket. 'Sleep now; you've had too much wine. We can talk more tomorrow.' She answered with an enormous yawn and obediently closed her eyes, finally letting the deep pull of alcohol claim her consciousness./span/p 


	23. Chapter 23

When Paul Rose got to the office later that next morning it was to find that, annoyingly, Joffa had beaten him to it. The brown haired infuriating likable constable was already ensconced at Rose's desk perusing a hand-written note as he munched on something that looked suspiciously like a bacon and egg McMuffin.

'Mornin', Sarge,' the younger man grinned without looking up.

'Bit early for junk food isn't it?' Rose asked gruffly.

'It's almost eleven, what's your excuse?'

Sergeant Rose twitched his moustache and grunted into the lukewarm tea Joffa handed him in a Styrofoam cup bearing a picture of the golden arches that he'd so thoughtfully picked up.

'Hadda take cat to vets.'

'Sorry, Sarge, didn't catch that?' Joffa grinned, one hand cupping his ear as though straining to hear.

'I said none of your goddamn business,' Rose said, a little louder before jerking his wobbly chin, greyed with bristle, at the post-it note Joffa had been reading. 'What's that?'

'DI Mason wants to see us as soon as,' Joffa said, licking a drip of brown sauce from his fingers and passing the note to Rose.

'Right,' Rose straightened the plain navy polyester tie he'd dug out of the pile of washed clothes he hadn't gotten around to put away the week before. As a result of being crushed by the mountain of his un-ironed shirts in the laundry basket the tie bore subtle evidence in the form of little creases. He took another gulp of the lukewarm tea before putting the cup down on the table and motioned Joffa to follow him with a twitch of his fingers over one hulking shoulder.

DI Mason's office was, as ever, neat and tidy. The large desk that took up most of the room in the few square feet allocated to him was devoid of any personal photographs or trinkets. Most of the rickety desks in the main office occupied by the CID officers were littered with various items, from the gallery of family portraits that charted the growth of DS Griffiths' two year old son into the gawky fifteen-year old with greasy hair and bad skin that he was now, the ten little glass owls that DC Marden's wife bought him, one each year to commemorate their wedding anniversary and their infamous honeymoon to the Owl Sanctuary in Suffolk, to the desk-sized Kylie Minogue calendar kept by DC Rose himself. It always struck him, the starkness of James Mason's office. But the spread of paperwork and towering piles of beige files was enough to draw the untrained eye away from the lack of personalisation.

'Mornin', Guv,' Rose said as he knocked on the partially open door and walked in without waiting for an answer.

'Good morning, Sergeant Rose, Constable Jefferies. Have a seat,' he motioned to the two hard-backed plastic chairs opposite him at the desk, which Rose might have tripped over with them being so close to the door but he was too used to the Mets layout and lack of space to be so clumsy. Joffa, on the other hand, had a little bit of trouble in easing his long legs into the small room with good grace. Once the young Constable was safely sat and out of the danger of falling flat on his face, Mason slipped a particular folder out from amongst the pile of identical colourless ones and handed it to Rose.

'It would seem your decision to get uniform to show our suspect's image to the prostitutes bought in last night may have been a good one, Sergeant. Six out of the ten that were arrested last night for soliciting recall seeing him at least once over the past few months.' Rose couldn't help the smug smile that began to tug at his lips, his moustache twitching.

'See, what did I say, eh?' he turned his almost beaming expression onto Joffa, who had taken the unopened file from Rose.

'But,' Mason held up one long-fingered hand, pushing his gold-rimmed glasses further up his nose with the other, 'It's not in the sense that you may think.' Rose looked confused.

'Apparently he's been seen locally on a Christian mission with the church local to that area. Every now and then they send out a patrol to save some of the girls from having to work through the night. They take the willing ones to a shelter set up in the church hall, give them a hot meal, the chance to clean themselves up a bit and a safe place to sleep that night.'

Rose found his eyebrows raising themselves higher and higher as Mason spoke.

'These girls aren't homeless, Guv, this isn't the age of good old Queen Vicky, they don't do what they do to get themselves bed and board.'

'Well, we aren't here to judge why they do what they do, Sergeant, are we? The point is we have another lead here and it's perhaps not flowing down the river you'd hoped.'

'So we should start out here, with this Church of the Good Shepard, then Inspector Mason?' Joffa asked, looking up from the file he had been perusing, tapping the address that someone had scrawled in the front.

'I would say that's a good as a place to start as any. This case seems to have so many loose ends we need to follow and link up.'

'As many brick walls as bloody Henry the bloomin' Eighth's maze,' Rose mumbled to himself as the other two men looked at him.

'If you're referring to the maze at Hampton Court, I think you'll find it's mostly hedge,' Joffa pointed out.

'What?'

'Doesn't matter, Sarge.' Mason suppressed a smile.

'Right then, Sergeant Rose, Constable Jefferies, I trust I can leave you to follow this up now?' he asked.

'On it like a car bonnet, Sir,' said Joffa with a grin, whilst the two older men shared a brief look of confusion.

The Church of the Good Shepherd didn't look much like a church at all, in Rose's opinion. It was a squat red brick building that sat nestled amongst the dirty, rarely seen back streets of Peckham, and had been heavily patched up and restored following severe damage during the Second World War. The iron-grey roof looked as though it might collapse under the weight of a stray pigeon and the red brick exterior was lightly soiled by graffiti tags on three of its four walls. Mesh grills covered all of the grimy windows to prevent them being smashed. Rose wasn't religious at all, but he felt they were sad times when a church had to lock its doors against its worshipers. Overall, the effect was more 'abandoned Scout hut' than place of worship, but Rose didn't mind that. The haughty ostentatiousness of most churches left him feeling empty and the gruff police officer felt that should he ever have a need to answer an unexpected call from God then this was his kind of church.

'Father Luke?' Rose enquired as the plain door finally swung inwards to reveal a tall, well-built man of about fifty with neat grey hair and alarmingly blue eyes that peered at both Rose and Joffa with interest from behind a pair of silver rimmed glasses.

'Why yes indeed,' the vicar replied with a genial smile at the two men, 'what can I do for you fine gentlemen?' Rose produced his warrant card and Joffa followed suit.

'I'm DS Paul Rose from the Metropolitan Police and this is DC Jonathon Jefferies. We're investigating a very serious case at the moment and were hoping you might be able to help out with a few enquires?'

'Oh, yes, of course I can try! Do come in, you've caught me just running through my sermon for later this afternoon but you're more than welcome to come in. The house of God is open any time. Knock and it shall be opened unto you, as they say.' Father Luke smiled warmly and stepped to one side, holding the door open wider so that the two men could enter. Rose cast a critical eye around and found the inside was in as much disrepair as the outside. The magnolia paint on the walls was dull and peeling and given a grey washed-out tone by the low watt light bulbs that flickered in the two large dusty chandeliers that drooped from the ceiling. Row upon row of hard wooden pews were evenly placed either side of a threadbare moss-green carpet that covered the central aisle leading down to the alter and lectern that sat at the other end of the hall, slightly raised upon a dais. Father Luke paused as he led the two men towards the carpeted aisle, bowing his head and dipping his knee before continuing towards a pew at the front. Joffa copied him whilst Rose looked on in bewilderment.

'I didn't know you were religious,' he hissed softy at the younger man.

'There's a lot you don't know about me, Sarge,' Joffa replied quietly, with his easy grin and the ghost of a wink.

'Take a pew,' Father Luke beamed as he shifted a weathered looking black bound bible and a sheaf of loose papers from a seat worn to a highly polished finish by many devout bottoms over the years. 'Now, what exactly is it you are investigating, if I may ask, Sergeant Rose?' Rose reached for the slim briefcase Joffa carried and slipped out his trusty old CCTV still of their mysterious suspect, before sliding into the pew beside Father Luke. Joffa sat beside him, his gangly legs extended awkwardly into the aisle as his torso twisted to accommodate his pose.

'We're looking into the murder of two young men near Covent Garden a few days ago, Father. We were hoping you might be able to shed some light on a suspect. We understand that the Church of the Good Shepherd runs a…' Rose cast a glance around the simply furnished church, moustache twitching as he tried to find the right phrase, '…relief programme for some of the local prostitutes?' Father Luke chuckled.

'Yes, I suppose you could call it that. Once a week we open the church hall as a night time drop in centre for those women unfortunate enough to have fallen upon hard times. We offer a hot, wholesome meal, a shower and a bed for the night to get them off the streets.' Joffa could see the tension in Rose's face, the bristling of his grey moustache as he no doubt fought back one of his usual back-biting remarks.

'Once a week?' Rose asked in a slightly strained tone.

'Yes. At the moment it isn't a very successful programme, mostly through lack of volunteers, but also a lot of the women choose not to take the help we are offering.' Rose nodded.

'I can imagine. A lot of those girls are more than likely working from necessity of their next fix or to avoid a beating. From my experience it's not because they lack any place to sleep. Most are so doped up they wouldn't even know what sleep is if it crept up and bit them on the ar-'

'How many volunteers do you have at the moment, then?' Joffa interrupted smoothly, in an attempt to steer Rose away from any profanities and diffuse the temper he could see was building. When Rose got on one, he could rant for England.

'Ah, at the moment we have five, including myself.'

'And the take up on the women's behalf is pretty small you say?' Father Luke smiled kindly.

'Yes, it is. We generally have about three or four take up the offer each week, usually the same ones. As the weather gets colder, though, we do see an increase in the amount of women that drop in for a cup of tea and a quick snack; even if they don't stay the night. I know, you must think it a fruitless exercise, a drop in the ocean as it were, but the way I see it is that if we can change the course of just one of those women's lives then we've done a job well done. Time and energy can never be wasted if one is spending it on improving the life of our brothers and sisters.' Rose cleared his throat gruffly.

'Yes, well, if I could just show you this photo, Father Luke? We have reason to believe he might be one of your volunteers.'

'Really?' Father Luke's tone was slightly incredulous as his silvered eyebrows rose to meet his hairline that, enviably, showed little sign of receding. He took the A4 photograph that Rose held out to him, the better of the CCTV stills that showed the man in all his towering, ferocious glory at the service station.

'Ah,' he muttered softly, 'yes, I do know this man. He certainly is one of my volunteers and a very good one at that. I've never met a man more compassionate to another's plight.' The two officers exchanged a glance as Father Luke looked troubled, passing the photo back to Rose before folding his hands thoughtfully in his lap. 'He is a suspect in your murder case, you say?' he asked sadly. 'Oh dear. I would never have thought it. But,' he brightened a little, though his blue eyes did not sparkle nearly as much as Rose's did at that moment. 'Innocent until proven guilty, as they say,' he added, almost hopefully.

'Do you have a name for us, Father Luke?' Rose prompted, almost gently as he was not unaffected by the air of sadness that seemed to have settled around the older man.

'Jinn QuilYa, Sergeant Rose.' Father Luke handed the photograph back to Rose without another look at it. 'Such a pleasant young man.' Rose practically crackled with excitement as he accepted the photo and scribbled hastily in his pocket notebook. Father Luke had taken the time to gaze up at the large wooden crucifix that loomed over them, the dark wooden figure of a dying Jesus peering piteously down on them all. The carved figurine clearly gave him some kind of solace and he was so caught up in gazing at it that he missed the look that flitted over Joffa's face, as did Rose, who was too busy scribbling in his notebook again buoyed up by their first solid lead. The moment passed as Rose looked up from his pad and grinned at Joffa.

'So, Father Luke, when was the last time you saw this Jinn QuilYa?'

'It would have been last Friday. We ran our drop in clinic the Friday before that so I wasn't expecting to see Jinn until the next one. He doesn't attend services here, you see, we only see him the Friday nights we open the hall to those less fortunate. He came by to say he wouldn't be around to help out for a little while.'

'Did he say why?' Rose asked, his eyes still glittering with excitement. They really had hit the jackpot here.

'No, he didn't actually, and I never thought to ask. Its volunteer work you see and I understand it's a great deal to ask for someone to give up their own personal time in this day and age. He did offer a cheque for a substantial amount though, which will be a great help to our cause.' Father Luke smiled his genial smile, no doubt silently blessing the generosity of the man.

'A cheque?' Rose asked with interest, 'do you still have it, or a copy of it?'

'As a matter of fact, Sergeant, I still have the very article itself. I haven't had a chance to get to the bank yet.' He stood up and pulled a battered brown leather wallet from the pocket of his plain black trousers, slipping a piece of paper from its folds. Rose let out a low whistle from between his teeth as he saw the amount made out to the Church of the Good Shepherd.

'Ten thousand pounds?' he asked incredulously as Joffa raised his eye brows.

'That's some philanthropist,' Joffa said softly, watching as Rose raised the rectangle slip up to his eye line, turning slightly to the left so as to catch the light a little better.

'To be paid from the account of Jinn Alexis Caelum QuilYa. What kind of a name is that?' Rose muttered, mostly to himself, but he looked up to give Joffa a bright grin. 'This day just keeps getting better and better.'


	24. Chapter 24

'Are you hungry? ' Jinn sat beside Eirene, perched on the edge of her bed as she remained still curled sleepily beneath her blanket. His warm fingers caressed her dark hair, tucking a lock behind her ear.

'No, I'm not hungry, Master.' Eirene sat up, pulling the blanket around her as she shivered at the fresh morning breeze that blew in from the docks and crept through the gaps around the window shutters that were still closed. Eirene had slept fully clothed that night, more from the effects of the alcohol on her consciousness than from any kind of prudery. She was glad of the extra warmth that morning though, as she thought the air was colder here. Or was it just the snippets of remembered conversation that had chilled her bones? He, this devastatingly handsome man had been sent to lead her to her death.

'Jinn, please. Call me Jinn,' he insisted for the umpteenth time. Eirene half smiled, half frowned.

'But it seems so disrespectful. Even my father was 'Master' to me,' she said. Her words were brushed aside by Jinn's soft lips trailing over hers and the sudden contact sent a delicious and unexpected shiver along her spine.

'Then call me whatever you wish, it matters not to me.' Jinn touched Eirene's flushed cheek with the back of his hand, trying to catch her lowered eyes with his own. 'Are you alright, Eirene? What's wrong?' Eirene caught her lower lip between her teeth, drawing her knees up to her chest.

'I've just been thinking about my brother,' she said. 'It means so much to me to find him. We've never been apart until now and this separation pains me.' She thought she caught a flicker of a shadow passing in Jinn's eyes as she looked up, but it was gone just as swiftly as she had noticed it and could just have easily been the changing of the light as the sun climbed higher outside.

'Dear heart,' Jinn breathed near her ear, before leaning back against the wall where the head of the bed rested and opened his arms to her. Eirene went to him without hesitation, her cheeks reddening as she glanced up in awe at his handsome face before she settled her head on his shoulder. He smelt of warmth, of the earth and sweet air that seemed unaffected by the pressing scent of fish that presided in the Tavern and the rooms for rent upstairs and her lips rested lightly against his pulse as it throbbed rhythmically in his throat, reminding her of the little flutter of the nightingale's heartbeat against her fingers. How could anyone so human be something so… otherworldly, she wondered. His skin, pressed so nonchalantly against her own felt familiar and welcome, thrilling her. Eirene gave a heavy sigh and closed her eyes again.

'I need to find him,' she muttered softly. 'And what I heard Liviana say last night has unnerved me.'

'Ah,' he said when she eventually braved a look up at him. She thought the sound held some raw emotion, sadness or regret maybe? But regret for what, she thought. That she had heard their conversation, or that he had taken part in it? 'I'm going to call her by her true name now, it's time we dropped the charade, Eirene. Her name is Petra and she is just as petulant as a spoiled child denied a treat at the moment. She is trying to force my hand with threats but it will not work and she knows that now. I don't think we have anything to worry about from her, she'll lick her wounds and find another distraction soon enough.' His fingers caressed the length of her spine as he spoke, causing Eirene to stretch like a cat seeking more petting, aching for more of his touch.

'But my brother, she mentioned Germanus.' Jinn's hand slid from the base of her neck to her chin, gently reorienting her face so that his soft indigo eyes could look into her sapphire ones.

'I have my suspicions, Eirene, about where he may be but you must trust that I know what I'm doing. There is a little more at play here than I can explain at the moment but you have to know that I will never do anything to hurt you. I love you with every fibre of my being and it is my duty now to protect you from harm. I would fly with you to the end of the world and back if that is what it takes.' His tone had become hushed; coarse with emotion as he spoke lowly and close to her ear again.

Eirene had relaxed back into his arms and found the reassurance she realised she had been seeking in his words and in his solid warmth as he held her. Petra, that beautiful embodiment of Diana herself had threatened to blow out the tiny spark of belief Eirene held in Jinn's feelings for her. She had given much thought over the past few days to every action and word he had spoken since he had led her back to his villa, naked and shivering with uncertainty and she had come to the conclusion that perhaps Jinn really did care for her. But how could he, when she was barely worthy to stand in the dazzling shadow of that angelic woman? She was but a grain of sand to the glittering jewel that was Petra, a dull and clumsy rock to her finely polished diamond. Yet she had heard with her own ears the night before as Jinn declared his love and spurned the obvious advances of the golden goddess.

'You love me,' Eirene muttered softly, as though just hearing those words for the first time and realising the true meaning of them. Jinn couldn't help the grin that slipped over his lips at the wonder her tone held.

'Yes, but I have told you that already, dear heart.'

'You've never shown anyone your wings before, yet you showed them to me.' Eirene turned in his lap, one leg either side of him to stabilise herself as her arms rested on his shoulders and her fingers skimmed the hard muscles above his shoulder blades. Her mind's eye conjured the huge, feather-soft wings that had burst seamlessly from his flesh a day or so before but yet now left no trace. Jinn nodded silently and reached up to stroke her cheek before his hand was caught by Eirene's and pressed palm-up to her lips.

'You love me,' she said again with a smile at the bemused expression on Jinn's face. His hand fell to drift over the collar at her throat. Noli me tangere.

'Let me free you,' he offered suddenly, quietly.

'No.' Eirene stilled his wandering fingers with another warm kiss as she lowered her mouth, stretching her lithe frame out beneath the blanket again so that she lay flush against Jinn who was taking up most of the room in the low, narrow bed. Each unyielding beat of his heart thrummed in her own chest as she pressed herself against him. 'I am yours. Always. Jinn.'

'And I am yours, Eirene. Forever.' He smiled and kissed her gently. Her hands found themselves tangled in his short, black hair as one of his arms encircled her waist and the other carefully cupped her chin. Eirene's heart pounded in her ears echoing the beat of his at it hammered loudly, pulse by pulse, chest against chest as Jinn pulled her more firmly against his body. She was the first to break the seal that their lips had formed; though her eyes were locked on his and her face remained only an inch away.

'I trust you,' she whispered, trembling.

'I'm glad,' he replied just as softly, smiling as he cradled her as gently as though he were half afraid she would shatter against him. One of his hands moved to brush over her shoulder, his thumb skimming the delicate arch of her throat and his fingers seeking the unblemished flesh that lay quivering with response beneath her tunic.

'I want you, Jinn,' Eirene uttered breathlessly. 'I need you. But I don't want…' her cheeks blazed and her sentence hung unfinished between them. Jinn sat up, pulling her with him and once more tilted her head so that he could peer deep into her eyes, instantly reading the reluctant insecurity there.

'Shhh…Take your time, Eirene, there is no rush. We have our whole lives together now if that is what you wish. I will not do anything that you are not ready for.' He could feel the tension seeping from her tensed muscles and heard the barely audible sigh that she breathed as he caressed her dark hair and she turned a beautiful smile up towards him.

'Thank you.'

'You have nothing to thank me for,' Jinn countered.

'I have everything to thank you for and I will never forget it. I owe you my life.'

'And I've told you I will protect it with my own, little one. Now, to business then.' He slid himself out gently from beneath Eirene and stood up, crossing the room to where a rough and unadorned dish stood on a table. Jinn lifted the plate to show Eirene the coarse bread and two bunches of purple grapes he had bought up from downstairs. 'It's the best this place had to offer for breakfast I'm afraid but I want you to eat and drink something whilst I settle up downstairs.'

'We're moving on,' Eirene stated, sitting up and swinging her bare feet onto the floor.

'Yes,' Jinn placed the food on the bed beside her.

'We need to get as far away from Rome as possible?' she asked, remembering what he had said to Petra.

'Yes,' he said again, pausing at the door.

'Why?'

'I'm not sure I really know myself. All I do know is that the best thing for us to do now is to move on. But first,' he cast a critical eye over the stained and torn tunic she wore, made shabby by their long walk from Rome. 'I think we need to sort some new clothes out, for the both of us.' Ever ready for action, Eirene leapt out of bed with a chunk of bread in one hand and dangling the sorry looking grapes from the other.

'I'll eat on the way,' she promised, taking a huge bite of bread to emphasise her point. Jinn smiled at her enthusiasm and cast a swift, critical eye over her.

'Perhaps we need to visit the baths too, while we're at it?' Eirene frowned, remembering the last time he'd decided she needed a bath. She hastily smoothed down her sleep-rumpled hair and left a trail of crumbs in the wake of her fingers. Her feet were dusty and black from the road but the dirt concealed the blisters that were forming on her soles and she was afraid he would insist on slowing the pace of their journey to wherever it was he thought they needed to go if he saw them. He laughed at her expression and held the door open for her.

'Come, let's go.' Eirene followed Jinn down the cool stone stairs that came out at the back of the tavern that was already bustling with dockworkers and their families fuelling themselves up with breakfast, ready for the day ahead. Eirene could see that a grey misty morning had broken outside; the dull, steely sky blending seamlessly with the equally dull sea that stretched out as far as the eye could see and disappeared into the horizon. The tavern front faced out towards the sea, balanced precariously on the shoreline that heaved and teemed night and day like a great lumbering beast, it was never still. She stood behind Jinn, passively chewing on a few grapes and the bread she had taken from upstairs as he fell into conversation with Balbus, who still managed to slide his shifty eyes in a slimy way over her body in a way that made her skin crawl.

She turned away from the two men and went to stand in the doorway of the Tavern where she could watch the incessant activity that buzzed busily beyond the relative quiet of her sanctuary. In doing so, however, she missed the folded piece of papyrus that passed from the puzzled owner to the equally bemused though somewhat suspicious Jinn, who tucked it hastily beneath his dalmatica. A sudden glint of gold turned Eirene's eyes to the far left but like the dip of the sun behind a cloud the gleam was gone as soon as she tried to locate it. A young boy was hefting a crate load of glistening fish, his child-sinewy muscles taut with strain as his load slapped and slithered about against each other seemingly gasping for breath, splashing droplets of seawater up into little glittering arcs that reflected the grey dawn light. Perhaps that was the flicker she had seen, she wondered, unsettled as her thoughts turned back to the striking figure of Petra who had almost illuminated the alleyway with her radiance the night before. The sudden touch of Jinn's hand on her shoulder made her gasp, jerking her out of her reverie as she whirled to face him having half expected to see the heavy figure of the Tavern keeper bearing down on her.

'Peace,' Jinn smiled, though Eirene noticed there was a tightness about his lovely eyes that hadn't been there moments before. 'Eirene, something's come up. I have some… business to attend to before we leave here.' He held his hand up to halt her words as her mouth opened to volunteer to accompany him. He looked worried, she thought. 'This isn't something you should really be involved in, as much as I want to keep you by my side. Will you stay here and wait for me?' Eirene raised her gaze to meet his but said nothing. 'You won't wait here,' he said, seeing the look in her eyes with something that was almost amusement. 'What happened to the obedient slave that obeyed her Master without question?'

'I don't believe I know that slave, Master,' Eirene almost returned his ghost of a smile. Her eyes flickered to the rotund figure that was slopping up a bowl of something hot and steaming to a man lounging at the counter, but his sly features were definitely pointed in her direction.

'Is it Aelia, Master?' she asked, absently rubbing the small gold ring that still remained on her thumb, being too big for any other finger. She half-remembered the conversation about the jewellery maker from the night before. Jinn had pledged money and assistance, if she remembered rightly. But why would that make him so agitated? It didn't really add up to her…

'No. You will stay in the market square then until I return,' Jinn admonished, resignedly. He took her elbow and guided her gently out into the stream of foot traffic that swallowed them up immediately, engulfing them in the squawks of the sea birds that cried expectantly at the sight of the mornings catch and the gruff bellows of the dock-workers already sweating from their labour. Eirene could taste the tang of the salt lacing the brisk breeze that blew in off the waves turning constantly in the harbour. They walked together through the winding little side streets that led further in land, away from the docks and the life that beat along the water's edge.

'Here.' As they rounded the corner of a tall sandy coloured building out of the view of the market mere feet away, Jinn pulled Eirene close and pressed something heavy and clinking into her hand. 'I want you to buy some things for us. Spend as much as you wish,' he smiled, brushing his fingers over her delicate features as his eyes lingered on hers with something like longing. He pulled her towards him again, arms wrapped tight around her. Eirene, clutching the coin purse he had given her in one hand slipped her arms around Jinn's neck in return as she tilted her head up towards his and smiled against his warm lips.

'I don't want to leave you,' he said without pulling away from her, his words distorted by the contact his lips still had with hers as he held her for a moment longer than was necessary.

'Then don't,' Eirene whispered, her eyes closed as she kissed him. She could feel the sudden tension building in his muscles as she stretched up to hold him tighter and it puzzled her. Drawing back so that she could see his face more clearly, Eirene lowered her arms so that her hands lay lightly on his broad chest. 'Master? Jinn? What's wrong?'

'Something just doesn't feel right. Things shouldn't be happening the way they are,' he told her.

'What things? Where are you going?' Eirene asked. Jinn cupped her face with his hands.

'I can't tell you, not yet. I know I keep saying that but there is someone I have to see alone. After that I hope that I can tell you everything. Until then you must trust me and promise you'll stay here in the square, don't leave here with anyone no matter what happens, ok?' He stared intensely at her and Eirene thought she saw a spark of something akin to real fear cross his startlingly beautiful features. 'Eirene!' he barked a little more sharply than he meant to, seemingly panicked by her lack of response. Eirene didn't intend to make any promises to him that she wouldn't be able to keep and she was keen to explore the harbour of Ostia, especially with a purse full of coins.

'I will wait in the square for you,' she managed eventually, though they were both aware of the lack of promise in her words. Jinn frowned, unsatisfied, but Eirene's jaw was set and so he knew it would be futile to argue with her and his heart would not permit him to order her to obey.

'I suppose from you, my little flightless bird, that's as good as a promise as I'll get,' he said as he kissed her briefly. Eirene thought there were so many raw emotions in that kiss; longing, frustration, love, but the bitterest taste that left her head reeling with confusion was the hint of helpless terror that she had already seen in his eyes.

'I love you, Jinn.'

His smile was genuine. 'I love you too, more than anything.' He took one last deep breath, inhaling the pure, wild scent of her as he pulled the girl even closer wishing he never had to let her go. And then he was gone as quick as that, melting into the maze of buildings that surrounded them and leaving Eirene to frown at his absence. His going was as swift, sudden and as gentle as a feather dragged briefly over bare flesh. She felt her heart sag just a little, but the busy sounds of the market reached her ears now the musical notes of Jinn's voice had faded away and it wasn't long before her feet had carried her off to explore the enticing scents that drifted to her on the sharp breeze.


	25. Chapter 25

Eutopia ran her hands through her long, loose hair to push it out of her eyes. She sat perched on the edge of Theresa's bed in her small and neat bedroom. Theresa had insisted Eutopia take a shower and change into one of her dresses, since the two women were fairly close in size, after she had stormed up the stairs, shaking with anger and almost fit to burst. Eutopia smoothed the a-line skirt of the deep blue fabric over her knees. The light cotton dress fitted her better than Jinn's clothes had, but she had to admit she missed the warmth and scent of him that had permeated the folds of his hoodie and joggers he'd given her to wear back at his house.

The hot, heavy spray of the shower had beaten most of the tension out of her muscles and Eutopia had felt the hurt and confusion trickle out of her body with every rivulet of water that snaked a path down her skin to run away down the drain, leaving her empty of all emotion. It was a nice way to feel for the moment, a welcome break from the cocktail of feeling that had swirled non-stop inside her since she had first found herself semi-conscious on Jinn's sofa.

Theresa's room had at some point, perhaps in an effort to create the illusion of space, been painted a soft sunny yellow that reminded Eutopia of summer. The bedspread was white and embroidered with little daisies around the hem that matched the curtains swept back at the small window. Various family photos; ranging from a young Theresa O'Malley with very long red hair and a short green dress, clinging to the arm of a dark and extremely handsome Thomas O'Malley, to a cherubic rust-haired toddler that could only have been Mike, lined up in front of an oval mirror set upon the top of a spindly dressing table. Overall the bedroom felt warm and comforting, scented faintly with perfumed talc.

What the hell was Will doing with Nephilim? Hadn't Jinn previously told her that they were generally loners? Now that the initial euphoria at having finally laid eyes on her brother, after all these years of hoping and wishing had faded, Eutopia couldn't shake the feeling that there was something haunting about Will. Perhaps it was just her memory recall now the adrenaline that had initially flooded her system had abated, but there was something she found uncomfortable in that photo of her beloved brother. What she was sure of though was that she had to meet him. A gentle tap at the door made her start with a little gasp.

'Come in,' she called, feeling a bit stupid as it wasn't her bedroom to permit or deny entry to anyway. Jinn appeared in all his angelic beauty. The early afternoon sun flooded the bright room, diffused gently by the fine mesh of the net curtains at the little window and enhanced the subtle glow that seemed, almost imperceptibly, to surround him.

'I know you want to see him,' he said, immediately taking up most of the room as the space practically shrank around him to accommodate his inhuman size. 'I won't let you.' Eutopia stood up quickly, her long hair tumbling and swinging over one shoulder as she smoothed the skirt of her borrowed dress around her legs self-consciously. Although she and Theresa were the same dress-size Eutopia's legs were longer, which meant that the fabric skimmed her thigh a little higher than she was comfortable with. 'Wow, that colour really suits you,' Jinn added, blinking appreciatively as he completely ignored the frown she wore. 'It matches your eyes.'

'You won't let me?' she practically spluttered, incredulously. 'Last time I checked I didn't need your permission to do anything. You don't own me! Not in this lifetime anyway.' Jinn pulled the door closed behind him. Eutopia's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright with anger, her small fists clenched in that all too familiar gesture of frustration. 'In case you've forgotten, Jinn, you're the reason I'm in this mess. I never asked you to get involved, you took that upon yourself. But that still doesn't give you the right to let or not let me do anything.'

Jinn rolled his dark eyes and lounged back against the door in such a way that Eutopia was reminded of the day she woke up half-naked on his sofa, which caused the blush in her cheeks to deepen. 'Don't start that again,' he growled in a low tone. 'I saved your life. End of.' Eutopia turned from him, her dress flaring out in a whirl of sapphire as she crossed to the window and peered out at the street below. When she spun around to face him again determination had replaced the spark of anger in her eyes.

'This was the whole reason I'm here, the only thing that kept me sane for most of my life. I have to meet Will, he's the only one left in my family.' Jinn snatched her left wrist, his long arm easily closing the gap between them as he pulled her to him and extended Eutopia's arm, turning her palm up to expose the soft underside where her delicate, vulnerable veins ran. Neither of them looked down at the silvered scars that faintly criss-crossed her flesh.

'Yeah,' he said, almost bitterly, 'he really kept you sane.' Eutopia snatched her arm back from his loose grip, her eyes narrowed slightly in an attempt to hide the hurt that flashed in their blue depths. She could feel tears prickling as she raised her head but kept her eyes defiantly turned down, determined that he would not see her cry again.

'And if you deny me my brother,' she said, her tone thick and husky with the effort of holding back her tears, 'you may as well have not bothered to save my life. There is nothing left for me without him.' With her gaze still fixed on the bare, highly polished floorboards of Theresa's bedroom, Eutopia didn't catch the disappointment that crossed Jinn's beautiful features.

'He is Nephilim, Eutopia,' Jinn said quietly, evenly.

'He's my brother,' the girl insisted, through gritted teeth.

'The selfishness of his kind permeates his very being and there is no telling what danger he poses to you,' Jinn countered as he reached out to tip her head up, gripping her chin none too gently as he forced her to look at him. 'It's no coincidence that he's friends with the two that attacked you. He was there, Eutopia! He was there that night, the guy that got away. This is Petra's doing, I know it, and I refuse to let you out of my sight until I figure out why she's flinging herself back on the scene.' If Jinn had not got such an uncomfortably tight hold on her chin, Eutopia felt that her suddenly weak legs probably wouldn't hold her up as she absorbed that information.

'He was there?' she repeated.

'Yes.' She wrenched her face from Jinn's hand and stumbled to the bed. The echo of a drainpipe laugh resounded in her mind and she closed her eyes, gripping the bedspread either side of her. Her stomach, empty as Theresa was in the middle of making something for lunch, lurched painfully. She remembered Ash calling out for Jason, and Jason appearing in the shadows to laugh as she spat in the face of her attacker. Jason. Jason, Will's alias.

Fuck.

'He's my brother,' she muttered, weakly.

'Half-brother,' Jinn gently reminded her. She nodded, unable to dispute that.

'But I need him. I want to see him again.' Her tone was softly imploring, like a lost and bewildered child's plea. It cut Jinn to his very core, his strong shoulders slumped.

'He won't be the boy you remember. The Nephilim, they change. Their bitterness is drawn out with every year.'

'You can't stop me from seeing him,' Eutopia stated. Jinn sighed, his own frustration held in check which took tremendous effort, but she was right, he could deny her nothing. He loved her too much.

'I could.' He crossed his arms over his huge chest and Eutopia knew that was true. Physically, he could easily prevent her from anything. 'But I won't.' She stood up and saw the emotion deep in his eyes, the bright and fierce love that burned for her as wild as the love she felt she held for him. The intensity of what washed over her at that point alarmed her and she turned away. She knew that it hurt Jinn to let go of the control he longed to exert over her in a bid to protect her from what he deemed a threat, but equally, she felt as though she was ripping her heart in two by forcing herself to choose him and his wishes, or the brother she had longed so hard for. Why did it feel like such a detrimental and final decision? There was something in the emotion she had seen in his eyes that made Eutopia feel like she wouldn't get a second chance should she make the wrong choice.

'I can, however, ask you politely not to go,' Jinn said, his warm, strong arms slipping around her waist to pull her gently against him, her back resting against his chest as he lowered his beautiful face into the softness of her dark hair. Eutopia found herself leaning into his grasp, the fight leaving her as she closed her eyes.

'Why does everything I do have to be so complicated?' she asked, quietly, a tear slipping out from beneath her lowered lashes. Jinn turned her gently in his arms as his lips softly, softly kissed the tear tenderly from her warm cheek, fingertips lightly stroking the smoothness of her bare throat as his other hand cupped her upturned face.

'Nothing in life is ever easy, dear heart.' He kissed her lips and Eutopia felt all the pain and confusion that had built up inside her since their conversation had started melt away into nothingness. 'Just promise me you won't go,' he whispered. Eutopia said nothing.


	26. Chapter 26

Eirene spent a happy morning wandering through the busy market place with Jinn's coins burning a hole in the small purse he'd given her. As the sun crept higher and higher in the sky it seared away the wisps of mist that lingered inland, having been swept in by the brisk breeze. The rays of the sun, as they fought to break through the low clouds, began to warm the air and made Eirene smile to herself as she leisurely inspected each stall in the square. Most stalls displayed food; from the plain and simple fish hauled wet and shiny in from the nearby dock, to the more exotic fare traded from across the sea. The few grapes and coarse bread she'd nibbled to please Jinn had sated her hunger and so Eirene passed by the food sellers with polite decline as the traders hawked their goods loudly.

The market place in Ostia was not much different to the market she was used to in Rome apart from the fact it was a little smaller and seemed more organised to her, less sprawling in the Forum at the centre of the city. The merchants displayed their goods outside their stone archways in a bid to tempt the customer in to browse further. A beautiful array of various fabrics, all dyed different colours, caught her eye and so Eirene fought her way through the early morning crowd to reach the stall. It was considerably cooler in the shade of the sand-coloured stone and even though the sun had barely had time to heat the dusty ground the shadow was a relief for Eirene. She couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that she was being watched. She had felt the bore of eyes upon her back ever since Jinn had left but it was a feeling she had tried to ignore, until now. Eirene worked her way around to the other side of the wide, shallow cart that spilled various fabrics; from plain wool to rich silk, she let them all slide beneath her wandering hands as she lifted her gaze to roam around the bright marketplace, her back was turned to the alcove created by the dust-coloured archway that was the main shop.

'Can I help you?' a reedy, nasal voice asked from behind, making Eirene start and drop the white piece of linen she'd lifted from the spectrum of colours beneath her fingertips. She turned to find a tall, thin man looming over her. The features of his long face were just as pinched as his voice sounded and his neatly trimmed hair and beard were a pitch black that made his skin appear as white as milk. Eirene lifted the purse of coins quickly as though to prove a point. She was sure her surprise had given her a guilty look and she felt the need to show the merchant, with his dark, accusing eyes, that she was there as a paying customer.

'My Master wants me to buy some new clothes for us,' Eirene said. In truth, she had been attracted by the array of beautiful fabrics, glittering like the rainbows cast from droplets flicked by a fish's tail, but exploring the flat top of the wheeled wagon also had given her an excuse to turn and confront the eyes she could still feel locked upon her. Her own eyes, however, could discern nothing more than a busy market morning with no one in particular paying any special interest in her as they went about their own daily business. 'But we are travelling and do not have the time necessary for items to be made.'

'I see,' the man's eyes narrowed further, his head cocked at an angle that reminded Eirene of a pigeon as he stroked the side of his beard with one delicate finger. His sharp ears had caught the heavy clink of her coins and Acanthus was a shrewd businessman, he was not one to turn away custom. 'Your Master, is he as dark as you, or fair?' he questioned, his quick fingers sifting through the various fabrics and plucking at different colours as he held them up next to Eirene's face to judge the effect on her skin tone. He was clearly a man that took pride in his work. No one, whether slave or high born Senator, would leave his premises dressed as though life was too much effort.

'He is dark, dominus,' Eirene said, looking puzzled at the constant fluttering of fabric beside her.

'Then come, come, I have just the thing _parum unus_!' Acanthus declared with a dramatic swish as he flourished a piece of purple wool at her, leading the way into the shop front. Eirene cast one last unsettled look around the marketplace before she turned to follow the thin figure ahead.

' _Vestis virum facit_ , the clothes make the man,' Acanthus said to Eirene as he rummaged through some more swatches of fabric that lay piled upon a work surface. 'Is your Master tall or short, thin or large?' he asked. Eirene stood in the centre of the shop, in awe of the masses of fine wool and linen, silk and cotton that surrounded them. It hung from the ceiling, draped down the walls and spilled from neat shelves in such a way that Eirene was reminded of a multi-coloured war tent.

'He is taller than you, dominus, and almost three times as wide.' Acanthus paused in his rooting and nodded his thin head slowly.

'A tricky customer, eh? Well, Acanthus hasn't ever turned a man away and your Master will be no exception.' He stood, letting the loose folds of his richly embellished dalmatica settle around him before he turned for a particular shelf that was almost out of his reach. 'Now, if I remember correctly, I should have something here that might fit.' He tugged and yanked at the corner of some woollen fabric. 'This was commissioned recently, but the gentleman in question gambled his fortune away and found himself naked on an auction block with no need for clothes.' He gave a little grunt of effort and another hard tug to free the item in question. It slipped so suddenly from between the other pieces it had been stacked with that Eirene feared the whole lot might topple off the shelf. Acanthus, on the other hand, was so skilled at pulling out this and that from around his shop that the stack barely even wobbled. He shook out a fine piece of woollen fabric and held it up for Eirene's inspection.

The girl reached out to run her fingers over the deep blue cloak that was hardly even creased from the compression it must have sustained at the bottom of such a large pile. The colour, a midnight blue that instantly reminded her of Jinn's indigo eyes, made her smile.

'It certainly is fine,' she remarked, running a sharp eye over the fine stitching.

'All the fabrics used here are made on the premises. My daughter is a most excellent weaver.' Acanthus nodded to a back corner of the room where a weaving loom stood, half occupied by a stretch of plain fabric but otherwise empty and still. 'She is, however, extremely lazy. I'm lucky to rouse her before midday,' he said in an almost conspiring tone. 'I digress, however. Look at the expanse of this, the length and the width. If your Master is of gladiatorial size, as you say, I'm quite sure this will be large enough for him. And this,' he unfurled a clean white linen dalmatica. 'This was also created along with this cloak and I have had little cause to sell them until now.' Eirene nodded with a smile.

'Yes, I will take them, dominus. Thank you.'

'Now,' Acanthus turned sparkling eyes upon her small frame with a smile that could only radiate delight. This expression was almost joyous, a completely different one from the initially suspicious one he had worn outside. 'To you, little one. What can we find for you, hmm?' He extended one very long finger and lifted Eirene's chin, his calloused fingertip hard against her soft skin as he examined her eyes, directing her head this way and that to catch the fall of her heavy, dark hair over her thin shoulders. 'It is clear to see that your Master cares a great deal for you,' his eyes dropped to the silver and inscribed collar at her delicate throat. 'Noli me tangere,' he muttered. 'Yes, he cares very much. So we should give him a little more to care for.' Acanthus took a step back, one long finger now stroking his neat black beard as his eyes raked over the whole of Eirene's form. He turned, thoughtfully, lifting various items and lengths of cloth until his hand swept across a length of silk. It was the palest blue in colour, like moonlight on a still river and it rippled easily over Acanthus's hands, catching the light as he held it up to Eirene. 'This, little one, is just what you need.'

Eirene gaped in awe, her eyes wide and shining as she reached out to touch the tunica. It was cool and ran over her fingers like water. She had never touched anything as smooth and beautiful before.

'Breathe, child,' Acanthus said with a happy grin. 'I know my work is awe-inspiring, but there is no need to deny yourself air in appreciation.' His dark eyes glittered as he ushered Eirene behind a wooden screen at the back of the shop. 'Now, let's see how it fits.' Eirene willingly ducked behind the screen and shed her travel-stained tunica, swapping it for the silk one immediately. It flowed over her lithe frame, highlighting her soft curves as the neckline dipped down between her small breasts. It was twisted over the shoulders, the simple detail drawing attention to her delicate neck. The hemline just brushed her toes in a way that did not hinder her movement. She felt like she was sheathed in water and could not keep her hands from stroking the smooth silk as she stepped back into view.

'You are the Moon goddess personified,' Acanthus beamed, his shrewd eyes glowing like embers with pleasure at his creation. 'Never before have I created something so beautiful.' He swept over to Eirene, his long fingers tweaking at the smooth cloth here and adjusting the hang of the hem before he stepped back to consider her again with his head tilted to the left. He tapped his lower lip with one tapered fingertip as his eyes narrowed in thought. 'Hmm. Perhaps we could stand to one minor adjustment.' Acanthus held something long and thin out to Eirene and she could see it was a long silver chain. He stepped behind her and caught the thick tangles of her dark hair up with one hand, twisting it deftly so that all the strands were coiled away from her delicate features. He secured Eirene's heavy hair with the length of finely made silver which caught the light when she moved her head. Her hesitant hands reached up to explore her new hairstyle, careful not to dislodge the wild waves now tamed.

'Beautiful!' Acanthus exclaimed. He placed his hands either side of Eirene's face and at such close proximity Eirene couldn't believe she had thought his warm eyes were ever accusing. 'Truly. Your master is a lucky man to have one such as you. Innocent and completely pure in all ways. Don't ever let them break you.' His gentle touch upon her cheeks was fatherly. 'The clothes may make the man, little one, but it is the woman who completes his soul. Remember that.' With a soft pat he dropped his hands and stepped back from her, all trace of sentiment gone as his quick fingers resumed stroking his neat black beard. 'Now, to business.'

Eirene dropped the coin purse into his outstretched palm and caught the gleam in his eye at the quiet chink of the coins inside. The artistic fatherly figure had instantly been replaced by the shrewd businessman once more and it made her smile as she watched him count out his fee. He handed the purse back and Eirene barely felt a difference in weight, suspecting that he had under charged her for the garments that he wrapped loosely in a plain piece of cotton fabric.

'You will certainly turn some heads out there,' he smiled, teeth almost as white as his pale skin. 'Not that you need any more attention.'

'What do you mean?' Eirene asked, puzzled, as he walked her to the entrance of the arched doorway.

'The two guards over there,' he motioned across the market square with a brief nod of his head as he pressed the wrapped parcel of clothes for Jinn into her arms. 'They haven't moved since you entered here. I saw them watching you as you rounded that corner. Have you done something you shouldn't?' Eirene frowned, remembering the eyes she had felt upon her back as she had crossed to inspect the fabrics displayed outside. She followed the line of Acanthus's sight and shook her head, feeling her hair wobbling precariously in its unusual position. 'Well,' Acanthus gave her silken tunic one last tug, adjusting the neckline. 'Be safe, little one.'

'Thank you,' Eirene smiled at him, drawing the cotton-covered clothes closer to her chest as she stepped out from the cool alcove and into the brighter morning sun. Eirene instantly picked up movement from the direction the two guards had been lurking and she knew at once that they were following her as she made her way deeper into the market place. Carrying the clothes she'd bought for Jinn under one arm she made a big show of pausing to inspect some dried dates that she had no intention of buying and sure enough, as she turned to one side to cast a sly glance over her shoulder, she noticed the two men had stopped too. Both were tall, much taller than her she judged, even with the distance between them. One man had fair hair worn longer than the current fashion, while the other had short brown hair shorn close to his head but both were as hulking as gladiators. Their red woollen tunics were overlaid with heavy leather breastplates and long swords were sheathed at their sides. Neither made an effort to conceal the fact they were openly staring at her as she moved on to examine the pots of runny honey arranged neatly beside an array of jewel like figs. The sweet scent of the overripe fruit was almost cloying.

'Finest honey in Ostia, my dear,' rasped the crooked old crone beside the stall. 'It will sweeten the seed in your belly,' the white-haired old lady, almost bent double with age, cackled manically, revealing a black hole of a mouth devoid of any teeth.

'No, thank you.'

'Sweet enough, eh?' the old lady asked, rheumy eyes fixed on the fine silk of Eirene's tunic as her fingers, twisted with age reached out to stroke the shimmering fabric. 'Ooh, ain't you the lucky one, eh?' Without warning her hand clamped with surprising strength around Eirene's wrist and she twitched the girl closer to where the pots of sticky honey were lined up. 'You got money then, you got enough to buy some honey off old Prisca. Come, come, just a jar or two, eh.'

Eirene shot a panicked look over her shoulder again as the old woman with white wisps of hair that barely covered her scalp pulled her closer. The two guards had moved now to pause at the stall beside her and Eirene had a panicked urge to run away. She twisted her wrist in Prisca's hand, trying to loosen the grip of her claw-like fingers.

'Let go of me!' Eirene cried as quietly and as firmly as she could, not wanting to draw any undue attention. With her free hand she fished a coin out of her purse and flipped it towards the old lady who, despite her failing eyesight, caught the glint of gold and rapidly relinquished her hold on Eirene to scrabble at the ground and retrieve the coin.

Eirene spun on her heels and wheeled off in the other direction, feeling the dusty stone of the market place floor, worn smooth over time, fly beneath her running feet. The shimmering pale blue silk of her tunic fluttered out behind her like a smudge of summer sky and a few tendrils of her hair escaped the restraining chain that still held her hair back. The pounding of heavy feet followed her like the beat of some terrible heart as she made her way back through the edges of the market and headed towards the docks with the hope of finding Jinn back at the waterfront tavern.

'Desino!' came the shout from behind her, a deep, resonating voice that could only belong to one of the guards. 'Thief!' Eirene glanced over her shoulder as she continued to run, her nimble feet weaving her through the throng of people that had swelled gradually since first light. It seemed as though the blonde guard, slightly less hulking than his darker companion, was the faster of the two and was closer behind her and it was from him that the shouts of 'thief' were coming from. She clutched the neatly wrapped parcel closer to herself, ducking to avoid the grabbing arms of a wine merchant, who had stepped out from his alcove and into her path. The man was almost as wide as he was tall and so slipping around him was no mean feat, but the thought of what would happen to her if the guards caught hold of her made her fast and nimble. The threats of branding 'runaway' upon her forehead had never been forgotten and though she was not a runaway and she had no idea what she could possibly have done to instigate her pursuit, and so Eirene ran anyway. It was instinctive. She heard the blood rushing in her ears, hot and fast; and felt the rapid beat of her heart as it thrust painfully against her ribs as she ran, reminding her of the little bird she had tried to nurse and how the fragile beat of life had pulsed against her fingertips.

A few other merchants made passing grabs at her as she ran, pursued by the two men shouting loudly for the thief to stop, but it was a discarded tangle of fishing net that was eventually her downfall. Having darted to the left to avoid a wool trader who came barrelling after her Eirene missed the pile of strongly woven rope that must have been dropped on the way to an early morning haul. They were right on the outskirts of the market now, so close to the docks that the tang of salty air was sharp in her nostrils and she could hear the shouts as boats were unloaded, the gentle push and pull of the tide against the shoreline. The noises followed her down to the ground as one foot snagged in the messy net that was rough with salt and age against her skin. Eirene flung both arms out as she fell face-first amidst the tangle, her wrapped package of clothes for Jinn skided across the ground and landed a few feet away. Her palms were tingling and grazed from contact with the floor and she suspected her knee would blossom a good bruise, but she didn't have time to dwell on her aches and pains as a large pair of hands hauled her back to her feet.

'Well, well, look what we caught, Corvinus,' the blonde guard laughed, gripping Eirene's upper arms tighter than she felt was necessary.

'Ah, good work, Domitius,' the guard with closely cropped brown hair said as he pulled himself up beside his faster companion. 'A little thief. A pretty one too.'

'I'm not a thief!' Eirene declared angrily, in between panted breaths, her chest still rising and falling rapidly. She shook with anger and exertion.

'What's this?' Corvinus asked, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement as he lifted Eirene's chin with one thick finger to get a better look at her collar. It was an unusual adornment for a slave, as not many masters chose to mark out their property unless they were prone to run away. 'Touch me not,' he read from the inscription. 'Well, I'm afraid your master will be most disappointed we haven't been able to follow his orders, but theft is a serious offence in Ostia and we take our jobs very seriously, don't we, Domitius?'

Domitius tossed his fair hair from his eyes and grinned at Eirene.

'We do indeed. And an offence like this, by a slave, is punishable by death.' Eirene gasped and squirmed in Domitius's grip, but he only shifted his hold on her, his hands sliding down her arms to hold both wrists behind her back with one hand as his other arm wrapped around her shoulders to pin her back against his leather-plated chest.

'I haven't stolen anything, I'm not a thief!' Eirene yelled desperately at Corvinus as he stood in front of her. 'What is it you think I have stolen?!' Domitius released her wrists, one hand bringing her palm up in front of her own face as his other arm remained wrapped around her shoulders. Eirene could feel his breath, hot and too sweet against her neck made bare and vulnerable by her new hairdo. He tweaked the little band of gold that was still on her thumb.

'We saw you steal this,' he said, tapping the gold ring with a well-bitten fingernail.

'You couldn't possibly have seen that, it's mine!' Eirene cried incredulously.

'Yours?' Corvinus took a menacing step closer to her, one dark eyebrow raised and half a grin on his face. 'A slave doesn't own anything. Not even her name, girl,' he lowered his broad face to hers. One meaty hand reached out to stroke the cool silk she wore, sliding over her nipple that lay just beneath Domitius's forearm and slipped across her ribs to rest upon her hip. Eirene let out a squark of complaint and twisted wildly, straining against the restraining arm.

'Let go of me! Don't touch me!' she growled loudly. The few people that passed by hurried on without even a second glance, no matter how hard Eirene tried to catch their eye. If a slave had done something wrong, no matter how finely she was dressed, it was no business of theirs unless it happened to be their slave. 'Please, I'm not a thief, I didn't take anything.' She grasped the flesh of Domitius's arm that still lay heavily across her chest but he only gripped her tighter. Corvinus grinned, flashing surprisingly white and even teeth, his brown eyes dark and glittering as he brought his hand up once more to caress her silken breasts, thick fingers pinching a nipple with enough force to make her cry out. Animalistic fear pulsed in her veins, mixed with hot, hot rage as she stiffened and tensed. She felt Domitius's breath on her skin again, quick and rasping as he pressed cold lips against her warm neck.

'I'm sure there's a way we can come to some sort of agreement that sees you walk away with a public lashing rather than a death sentence,' Corvinus said, taking another step towards her which left him pressed against the length of her prone body. 'But my fellow soldier and I would expect nothing less than gratuitous appreciation at such leniency.' At such close proximity Eirene was forced to lean her head back against Domitius's thickly muscled chest so she could see Corvinus's face. She felt a firm and growing bulge pressing against her stomach which left her in little doubt as to what he meant. Domitius chuckled and reached his free hand around Eirene to grope roughly between her thighs. With her body crushed against Domitius, Eirene did the only thing she could think of whilst she felt as desperately trapped as she did. She spat right in Corvinus's face. With lightning speed he pulled his hand back to strike her, but the blow never came.

'She is right,' a lilting musical voice cut across the hush of secluded pathway, freezing Corvinus's hand as he held it aloft in readiness to hit Eirene. She watched his wide jaw become slack and followed his gaze with the smallest turn of her head. 'I know her master gave her that ring as I saw him with it only last night.' Petra stood, beautiful and commanding in the sheltered space, dressed in the plainest of white woollen tunics that was exquisitely cut. Eirene had never seen the woman dressed so simply, but it served only to enhance her ethereal beauty. Her heavy, golden hair had been spun into a high twist that sparkled with the palest blue gemstones, as though a hundred raindrops had been caught amongst the fair strands. 'I happen to know her master very well and can vouch for her character. And his temper. Now, I suggest you both do as her master commands and touch her not. Leave her be.' In the brief silence that followed Eirene could hear the furious beat of her own terrified heart, she could feel it pulsing in her throat.

Nothing could prepare her for what happened next, however. Corvinus stepped backwards, allowing the light to filter in again as his towering form withdrew from Eirene at the same time as Domitius dropped his arm from her chest. In relief Eirene gravitated to the familiar figure of Petra, whose golden eyes were hooded and hard as they looked down at the two guards. Though the angelic woman stood at about the same height as the two tall men, it was the haughty inclination of her glorious head that allowed her to look upon them with disdain. 'Now I suggest the both of you take your dicks and your false allegations and find another helpless slave girl to prey upon, before I speak to your commander and have you strung up by your balls in the Forum for misconduct.' The musical lilt never left her tone, but it was the harsh light of her eyes that added weight to her words. There was a dangerous crackle of energy around her that Eirene had felt around Jinn before, when he was angry. The two men must have felt it too, because without another word Corvinus clapped his blonde companion on the shoulder and the two of them turned to retreat. Eirene turned from them also, her back to them as she tried to regain control over her still fast-beating heart, but as she did so she missed the glint of coinage tossed carefully from Petra and caught easily by Domitius. When she finally looked up at the woman Eirene assumed the self-satisfied smile that graced her perfect lips was because Petra was just as surprised and as pleased as she was to see the guards back off so easily.

'Thank you,' she managed. 'I… I thought you hated me.' Eirene blushed.

'Hate is such a strong word, Eirene. I never hated you. I suppose I was jealous of you. I have loved Jinn for a time longer than you can even comprehend, in a way that one angel should not love another. In all our time here Jinn has always distracted himself with one girl or another, there has never been a shortage of attention for him. When he first brought you back I had thought it would be just another passing infatuation for him, like all the others. But I see now that it is not.'

Eirene could no longer meet Petra's eyes and she felt the colour in her cheeks burn brighter. 'And there is no need to thank me, Eirene. You are under Jinn's protection and, as such, under mine in his absence now. This time apart from him has helped me clearly see how he truly feels for you. I could never forgive myself if something were to happen to you, little one. I know it would break Jinn's heart if you were hurt and he was not here to help you.' Petra grasped Eirene's hands gently, causing her to look up as she smiled for the first time into her wide, unsure eyes. The full force of her glowing beauty hit Eirene then and the girl found herself once more in awe of her appearance. 'You are now aware of our true angelic nature, Eirene, I know that Jinn has told you everything.' Eirene nodded. 'And we both now know his strength of feeling for you. He has never shown his wings to another human before, he really is serious about you.'

'I know,' Eirene said with a small smile.

'But I think his love for you has clouded your judgement.' This left Eirene confused and she frowned.

'I don't understand.'

'He thinks he is doing the best for you, but I'm not convinced it's the right thing.' An echoing frown creased Petra's smooth brow and she shook her head, her warm eyes sad as she looked upon Eirene who was still clinging to her hands. Petra took a deep breath as though preparing herself for something. 'He is keeping your brother's whereabouts from you and is lying about it to protect you. Jinn thinks that he can lead you away from your brother and save you,' Petra said slowly and with meaning. Eirene gasped in disbelief.

'Lead me away?' she repeated, as understanding slowly dawned on her. 'So I have been near him all this time?' Petra raised her arched eyebrows gently in silent agreement. 'Where?' Eirene asked, her eyes searching Petra's desperately, looking for answers. But Petra remained silent. 'Here?' Eirene squeezed Petra's hands excitedly but was met with the smallest almost imperceptible shake of the head. 'Rome, then, my brother's in Rome still?' She was greeted with the tiniest smile and an even smaller nod. 'Jinn knows my brother is in Rome? Why would he lie to me?'

'He thinks it is the right thing to do. But, despite your status in life, you are your own person and it is our duty as guardians to allow you to make your own choices and support you in them. Jinn has never truly grasped that, but I believe that because of the way he feels about you, he will understand now that whatever choice you make from this point on he should support.'

Eirene felt her heart catch in her throat. 'I have to go back, I have to go back to Rome.' Petra smiled lovingly and Eirene could almost feel the warmth radiating from her. 'Have you seen Jinn? He didn't say where he was going, I would have thought he'd be back by now.' Eirene glanced over her thin shoulder, as though their simply talking of him could make him appear. She felt Petra gently tug on her hands, bringing her attention swiftly back to the taller woman, who looked earnestly at her.

'As much as I think Jinn will eventually support your decision to return to Rome and find your brother, I feel he will initially reject the idea. He might pass it off as an irrational and passing thought and try to persuade you out of it. The only way to show him you are entirely serious about finding him is to just go. He will probably catch you up on the road back to Rome and by that point he'll understand you've made your choice.' Eirene listened intently and nodded. 'Besides, when he sees you looking so beautiful he'll be powerless to do anything but your bidding.' Petra brushed away a few loose strands of Eirene's dark hair from her face, tucking them gently behind her ear with a motherly-like smile. From such an inhumanly attractive woman, this was praise indeed, which somehow helped Eirene to see the logic in Petra's plan.

'If you see him, will you let him know where I've gone?' Eirene felt torn between wanting to see Jinn, to discuss everything Petra had just told her, and wanting to leave for Rome. Her heart ached to see her brother as much as her feet burned with longing to get going. Petra's warm and surprisingly gentle hand cupped the girl's smooth cheek, her elegant thumb stroking the side of her face lovingly.

'Of course. Now fly, flightless one, before Jinn finds the wings to catch you.'


	27. Chapter 27

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Listen to your heart, Topi,' Theresa said quietly, using the pet form of her name that Eutopia had always loved when spoken in her soft Irish tone. 'There really isn't anyone who can tell you what's right and what's wrong.' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"The two women were sat in the small and sparsely furnished living room of Mike and Theresa's house. Jinn, his hulking frame squeezed into the only armchair, sat watching the small screen of Theresa's T.V that rested upon a low pine unit in the corner of the room. Mike was channel hopping in a seemingly mindless manner; short bursts of song mixed with the spoken lines and canned laughter from nameless American sitcoms. Eutopia was curled in the space between Mike and his mum, warm and cosy on the brown velour sofa that took up most of the remaining space in the room. Theresa's hands were entwined with Eutopia's and Eutopia rested her dark head against the woman's small, bony shoulder. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'But I don't know what it is that my heart is trying to say,' Eutopia practically whispered back, her sapphire eyes fixed upon Jinn's emotionless face as his own gaze remained resolutely glued to the screen. 'How can I do the right thing when I don't even know what that is?' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Well, sometimes even our hearts don't know what the right thing is until the wrong thing happens. It takes courage, so it does, to do something we fear to be wrong. But to make mistakes isn't always a bad thing. God will forgive those who come back to his fold. Do what you feel you must, but don't ever forget my door is always open to you.' A thoughtful silence settled upon the room, broken only by Mike's gruff chuckles as he finally settled on a re-run of a slapstick comedy Eutopia had never seen before. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Later, Jinn caught Eutopia alone in the kitchen after she had offered to make the next round of tea./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I will follow you,' he said, leaning against the countertop with folded arms as she stood beside the white plastic kettle, waiting for it to boil. 'I've waited too long for you to just let you walk away now.' Eutopia avoided his eyes by searching the cutlery drawer for a clean teaspoon. 'I know exactly what you're planning, Eutopia, I know your heart inside out, and it isn't safe. I will not let you go alone.' She slammed the drawer shut and gritted her teeth to keep her anger in check. With the swift fluidity that betrayed his angelic nature, Jinn had scooped her up in his arms and was halfway up the stairs before she could make any sound of protest. Jinn pressed her gently onto Theresa's bed, Eutopia's back against the pillows and his face only inches away from hers. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'emListen /emto me,' he insisted, his eyes flashing with urgency. 'I emlove/em you. I will protect you with every last breath I have in my body because I have waited an eternity in the darkest depths of hell just to be with you again. It is not emsafe/em for you to find Will. I thought it might have been different this time but now I know he's Nephilim and he's somehow connected to Petra, I'd be signing your death warrant just by letting you walk out that door!'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'He's my brother!' was all Eutopia could manage, feeling like a stuck record. Jinn closed his eyes, fists clenched tight as he pushed himself away from her. He stood, his towering frame tensed for a moment before he turned his pleading indigo eyes upon her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Don't you see? This life, the one you've been given this time, it's following the same course as the life you had before?' Eutopia sat herself up a little more, drawing her knees up to her chest and pulling a soft cream coloured faux-fur throw over herself that Theresa kept at the end of the bed. 'Each life you have spirals on from the one before, like a shadow. You are following in Eirene's footsteps.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Eirene,' Eutopia breathed, her eyes wide and glassy at the strangely familiar name. Jinn softened at once and sat beside her, reaching out to stroke her dark hair. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'It was different before. I was a guardian then, Eirene's guardian. Yours. Once you had made your choice the laws that govern my kind would not allow me to interfere, to physically stop you or change your mind. I could only become involved if it was by way of directly supporting you. I was helpless. I had to sit back and watch you walk to your death knowing there was nothing I could do about it. Things are different now. Because of the choices I made then for Eirene, for you, I was cast out from the ranks of the angels. I have not been allowed to return to Hiera and quite frankly, Eutopia, I wouldn't have done even if I had been able to because I knew I would find you again. I promised you we would meet in a better place, a good place and that's now. Here and now.'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Eutopia bit her lip as she listened, the pain in Jinn's voice reflected deep in her sapphire eyes. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Until I met you,' he continued, his hand sliding from her hair to caress her cheek, 'I never knew angels could feel pain. My heart broke when you died that day and that pain never abated until the moment I first laid eyes on you in that alleyway. But you were worth every splinter, every crack in my soul because it meant I got to share this moment with you again like I promised. We're in a better place now, Eutopia. I want us to stay here.' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Eutopia's lips parted as she leant towards Jinn, her eyes sparkling with hot, unshed tears. The soft warmth of Jinn's mouth mildly surprised her as she kissed him. The silky throw slipped from her knees as she raised herself up from the bed enough to press her small frame against his hulking chest. Her arms slid around his neck as Jinn's arms wrapped around her waist, his large hand splayed out against the small of her back to pull her closer. When Eutopia pulled away, her cheeks were wet with tears and her lips slightly swollen from the intensity of the kiss. Her fingertips explored the smooth planes of his beautiful face as she shook her head and whispered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I think I knew you, all along I think I've known something about you.' She closed her eyes, laying her head upon his shoulder and pressing her lips to his neck as she smelt the night, the wind and the clouds captured in his scent. Tilting her head up, she placed a little kiss on his jaw before she stood up from the bed. Eutopia looked up at Jinn from beneath the heavy tangle of her dark hair, her eyes never leaving his as she reached up to slip the straps of her dress off. Deft fingers unclasped her bra and she bit her lower lip as she let the garments fall to the floor, standing before him in the puddle of her borrowed clothes, like a Venus perched on the crest of midnight blue waves. Her skin was smooth and perfect, unblemished, until she turned around… Extending from her shoulder blades, sweeping down to the small of her back were inked two beautiful, feathery wings. Delicately outlined, the black tattoo stark against her tawny skin, it was quite hypnotic. Jinn stood too, in awe as her gaze remained fixed on his from over her shoulder, despite his indigo eyes following the lace-like pattern. His hand reached slowly towards her back as though afraid his touch would be unwelcome, but Eutopia smiled with gentle encouragement. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'They're for you,' she said as the tips of his fingers began to slowly trace the graceful black lines inked forever on her skin. 'I don't think I ever did forget you, even though I didn't know I knew you.' She was sure now that it was Jinn who lingered brightly in the dreams she often had./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Jinn's own dreams of Eutopia had not done her justice at all, as he let his eyes rove over the delicate curves of her; the swell of her bare breasts, the arc of her hips. To Jinn, she was the epitome of beauty and it was all he could do to keep from flinging her back onto the bed in a passion. Instead, he lowered his mouth to her ear, one hand still lightly following the inky wings upon her back as the other reached round to stroke her cheek, cupping her chin and brushing her lips with his thumb./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I love you,' he muttered gently, before he began to lay kisses along the lines of her tattoo, from her shoulders all the way down to the base of her spine. He knelt behind her, his arms loose around her as his splayed hands reached for her exposed breasts. Eutopia gasped, eyes wide at the electric sensation his rough palms sent tingling through her as they ran over her nipples which instantly hardened into dusky pearls at his touch. His sweet kisses trailed back along her spine and she trembled as they found her neck. Eutopia turned in his arms to face him, her cheeks flushed with nervousness and desire as Jinn lay a kiss in the hollow between her breasts, his breath warm on her cool skin. His tongue found one nipple at first, then the other, licking at the small buds before drawing them into his mouth, each one in turn, to tease them out. Eutopia's head fell back slightly as she moaned at the delicious sensation, long tresses spilling over her shoulders and tumbling down her spine, forming a curtain behind which that glorious tattoo lay./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Jinn,' she breathed, her hands reaching out to run through his hair, down his neck to caress the strong muscles in his shoulders, feeling the long ridges beneath his skin from which she knew his own wings would sprout. He stood, gathering her to him so that her breasts pressed against him, chest to chest, and her legs lay either side of him as he cupped her rear. Her arms went around his neck as she kissed his lips again and pressed herself harder against him, every inch of her body yearning for contact with him, as though even an inch of space between their bodies would break whatever enchanted spell it was that had fallen upon them. He turned to lay her on the bed, more gently than he had initially. Jinn smiled at the slight pout of her lips as he gently broke her hold on him, peeling her arms from his neck so that he could stand back and shed his own clothes, discarding them on the floor alongside her dress. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Then it was Eutopia's turn to gaze at him in awe. She had never been with a man before and she found the strong, hard lines of his flawless flesh mesmerizing. He stood beside the bed for a moment in all his angelic nakedness, before he leaned down to lay beside her. One of his arms slipped beneath her head, drawing her closer as his other hand slid from her hip, across the plane of her stomach and over her ribs. Eutopia arched her back, pressing against his hand with yearning, like a cat seeking attention. Jinn could almost hear the thud of her racing heart as she reached out to mirror his caresses, hip to stomach to chest as their lips found each other once more. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I have waited an eternity for this,' he smiled softly. 'For you.' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'So you keep saying,' she whispered back with a little grin, feeling her desire for him jangle every fibre in her being. Jinn shifted so that he was above her, his weight taken by each of his elbows as his head dipped down again to once more trail a line of kisses along her body. Feathery light, he lay each one upon the skin around her nipples, drawing them across the tops of her breasts and down towards her naval. Lower, lower he went, grazing across the top of her panties which sent a shiver down her spine and caused a little gasp of pleasure to escape her lips. Jinn brushed his kisses further down still, around the edges to her inner thighs before dragging them right across the black lace to where her want for him was obvious. Eutopia's thighs instinctively spread a little further, welcoming Jinn as he settled between her legs. One of his long fingers slipped beneath her panties at her hip as he tugged them down, exposing her completely. His hand cupped the heat there, thumb instantly finding the little bud of pleasure and beginning to stroke it in long, lazy circles. Eutopia reached for him and he went back to her arms, though his hand remained nestled between her legs./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I've never done this before,' she whispered, still trembling against him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'It's ok,' Jinn whispered back gently, searching her dark eyes for any hint of hesitancy. 'We don't have to.' He smiled reassuringly at her, his hand lifting to run his fingers through her hair before he pulled her close to his chest. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I want to though,' Eutopia added with another, slightly shy, smile. 'I want you.' She stretched up for the hand that he had removed, guiding it down the length of her body to settle it firmly between her thighs again./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Jinn grinned./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Then you shall have me.' He turned slightly, pressing himself against her and Eutopia instinctively reached down to grasp him, feeling his solid warmth nestled in her hand. She tugged gently to guide him between her legs and carefully, slowly, Jinn obliged. There was pain mingled with the pleasure she felt at having him inside her, sharp and hot beneath the sweetness. Her breath caught in her throat and Jinn stopped easing himself into her, letting her body adjust. He lay light, fluttering kisses across her eyelids, her nose, until Eutopia bucked her hips very slightly, eager to accommodate more of him. Her hands roamed across the flesh of his back, nails dancing across his buttocks as he thrust again, gently. Eutopia would never have believed her body could feel so much all at once, and there was a wave of pleasure to come that she could sense, just out of her reach. Jinn took her hands, lacing his fingers with hers so they lay palm to palm as he stretched her arms above her head, leaving her trembling again as he showered more kisses upon her flesh. He could feel the throb of her heart against his chest, drumming in time with his. He groaned softly, the tempo of his thrusting increased along with her sharp, rapid breathing, governed by the primal beat between them./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I didn't think I would ever get to hold you in my arms again, Eutopia. I've not been the same without you, I never could be.' /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'I'm here now,' she replied breathlessly. 'And I love you.' A warm blush crept into her cheeks, across her breasts, nipples tingling as they brushed against his chest with each thrust. She broke her hands free from his, letting her fingers walk down his spine to caress the curve of his rear. Gripping him with both hands Eutopia raised herself off the bed slightly, arching her back so that her hips met his each time he drew back to slide into her. She closed her eyes as the pleasure crept over everything she had previously felt. Her palms glided around to Jinn's smooth chest, pressing against him with enough force to make him draw back./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Are you ok?' he muttered with concern. Eutopia smiled and sat up, pushing the hair from her dark, gleaming eyes that shone bright with a fiery desire as she nodded, raising herself up onto her knees to match his stance, before she pressed him back down onto his haunches and straddled him. Reaching down with one hand she guided his length back inside her as her other arm was flung around his neck. Both of Jinn's arms wrapped loosely around her, fingers gripping her hips as he let her control the rhythm now. It was a dance, the most ancient one that ever has been, and a beautiful one at that. They rocked together to music only they could hear, on into blissful silence that was broken occasionally by a soft moan or a gentle whimper, bodies united as one. Long tousled locks, dark as ebony, surrounded them both, wrapping them in the scent of the night and the subtle hint of something wild and flowery. Dark and light, angel and human./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Eutopia found her hips rocking with an urgency she had never experienced before, with a beat that she could no longer control, as an unfamiliar trickle of pleasure began to build in her muscles, washing over every limb. Jinn could feel her climax building as she tangled her hands in his hair and writhed in his lap with the sensation. Her skin glistened in the dying afternoon light of the room, soft and dewy. She cried out suddenly in delight, taken by surprise at the fierce intensity of feeling as she muffled the sound against his neck, waves of deliciousness crashed over her, through her, again and again. She panted, exhausted, and deftly shifted once more, though this time without untangling their limbs. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"With Jinn above her now she allowed him free reign as he had done for her. She was still wriggling as echoes of her bliss swept through her, tingling and warm, as his continued thrusts excited her still. She flung her lithe legs up, wrapping them tight around his waist to draw him in harder, faster and deeper. Jinn's eyes were black with delight as he joined her in her shivering moans, his eyes locked with hers as their ecstasy peaked and ebbed like the flow of the tide. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Eutopia smiled at him, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath, her heart still thumped so loudly she thought she could hear it. Jinn kissed her lips deeply, moving to lay beside her as he reached out for the soft fur throw and covered them both with it. He cradled Eutopia to his chest, her tattooed back pressed against him as he breathed in the scent of her hair, smoothing it back from her face. Neither needed words since their actions had just spoken loud enough for them both. Never before had Eutopia felt so utterly and completely loved. She felt it surrounding her, deep in the clinch of the strong arms that held her so tenderly. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Warm, snug and feeling so undeniably safe, it wasn't long before her long lashes had curled upon cheeks that she hadn't even noticed were once more damp with a trickle of tears, and she was pulled into a deep and dreamless sleep. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"When Eutopia woke, she had no idea how much time had passed. Theresa didn't have a clock in her bedroom, but someone had pulled the door completely closed. The curtains at the little window remained open but the sky outside was heavily tinted with a velvety blackness. They must have slept away the afternoon. She was still snuggled against Jinn's chest, her nude body adding to the warmth given off by his own naked form. His arm was still curled protectively around her prone figure and she found herself wondering why she had thought angels didn't sleep. Didn't everyone deserve a chance to dream? She turned in his grasp so she could study his peaceful face only to find the dark fathomless depths of his eyes upon hers. He reflected her smile right back at her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"'Hey, beautiful.' It was such a clichéd greeting that Eutopia found herself stifling a giggle by pressing her lips against his. And then they found each other again, skin hot against skin. Mouths, tongues, teeth, fingertips and wandering hands, they explored the little-known territory of each other long into the night./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"Lurking behind the sweet, fiery passion, hanging like an unwelcome shadow between them, was the fact that at some point they would have to break away from each other and a decision would need to be made. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 42.55pt;" /p 


End file.
